Eric Andre Claims Racial Profiling Spurred Stop At ATL Airport

ATLANTA, GA — Comedian Eric Andre said he wants Clayton County police to "stop their racial profiling tactics" and stop "creating more lies" after the department denied Andre's claims that they racially profiled him at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Wednesday.

Andre, a comedian known for "The Eric Andre Show" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, told his 775,500 Twitter followers he was being racially profiled at the Atlanta airport in multiple tweets. He tagged Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, President Joe Biden, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Atlanta Police Department in the thread.

Andre said at that moment, he was the only person of color in line. He claimed he was stopped by "two plain clothes Atlanta PD" officers at the T gates in the airport.

"They let me go. I’m on the plane in the air. I’m fine now but I want this reported. Please any Atlanta lawyer reach out to me. @KeishaBottoms #racialprofiling #jimcrowgeorgia terminal T3 Atlanta airport," Andre said in one tweet.

APD responded saying none of its officers were involved. Multiple law enforcement agencies work out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the agency said.

"APD does not randomly search travelers without evidence/indication of criminal activity," APD said on Twitter. Bottoms also responded saying she was sorry to hear about Andre's experience, and that it was not the Atlanta police involved.

Andre said he was "hearing it might be @DEAHQ racially profiling passengers and not the @Atlanta_Police," but the DEA told Patch no one from the DEA was involved either.

Clayton County Police Department posted a statement just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, saying it was the agency involved. The department said twice in the statement that the incident with Andre was a "consensual encounter."

Here's the full statement:

"On April 21, 2021, the Clayton County Police Department made a consensual encounter with a male traveler, later identified as Eric Andre, as he was preparing to fly to California from the Atlanta Airport. Mr. Andre chose to speak with investigators during the initial encounter.

"During the encounter, Mr. Andre voluntarily provided the investigators information as to his travel plans. Mr. Andre also voluntarily consented to a search of his luggage but the investigators chose not to do so. Investigators identified that there was no reason to continue a conversation and therefore terminated the encounter.

"Mr. Andre boarded the plane without being detained and continued on his travels. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Atlanta Police Department did not assist in this consensual encounter."

Andre said the statement was "full of misinformation" and asked Bottoms for help again via Twitter. He said he did not volunteer for a search and did not volunteer to talk, refuting the CCPD's statement that the incident was consensual.

I did NOT volunteer to a search and I did not volunteer to talk. You guys flashed your badge and detained me with no probable cause except for racism. This is JIM CROW RACISM @ClaytonCountyPD I DID NOT VOLUNTEER TO A SEARCH. YOU ARE HARASSING ME. THIS IS RACISM! @KeishaBottoms
— Eric Andre (@ericandre) April 22, 2021

He took to Twitter again Thursday morning, saying he hopes Clayton County police "stop their racial profiling tactics" at the airport, and wished they "owned up to it instead of creating more lies about what happened."

"They're not creating a safer environment - just using the War on Drugs as an excuse to harass and oppress POC," Andre said in a tweet. He also called on Delta to respond, asking if they "knew @ClaytonCountyPD is harassing their sky priority, Gold Medallion, and all their other loyal customers on their way to their seats?"

In a video statement released Thursday afternoon, Clayton County police refuted Andre's claims and said he was never detained, handcuffed or searched.

"I would like to reiterate that Mr. Andre was never placed in handcuffs or detained at any point during their interaction," said Aubriel Stroud, a spokesperson for the Clayton County police, in the video. "Our preliminary findings have revealed that Mr. Andre was not racially profiled. Our inquiries have revealed that Mr. Andre was cordial, personable and pleasant to speak with.

Patch wants to hear from anyone who witnessed the encounter with Eric Andre. Email kara.mcintyre@patch.com if you witnessed what happened.

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