Eric Andre Says He Was Racially Profiled at Airport, Wants to Take Legal Action

Comedian and actor Eric Andre claims that he was racially profiled while at the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, taking to Twitter to share his experiences. “I was just racially profiled by two plainclothes Atlanta PD police in [Delta] terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport. They stopped me on the way down the bridge to the plane for a ‘random’ search and asked they could search me for drugs. I told them no. Be careful,” he wrote, tagging the Atlanta Police Department.

The Bad Trip actor even reached out to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to share his predicament. “Please help me,” he wrote. “Two of your officers stopped me on the jet bridge at terminal three in the Atlanta airport for a ‘random’ drug search. Please someone get me the name of a good Atlanta lawyer.” Andre also put a call out for anyone who could give him the names of the officers in question so he could pass on the information to his lawyer. “At that moment, I was the only POC on (sic) line. [Keisha Bottoms] I know this isn’t the PD you want representing in your airports.”

Andre pointed out that they filmed most of Bad Trip in the “lovely city” and that it was a shame that the PD “treats POC traveling there for work” with such disdain. Andre revealed that he was eventually let go and was allowed to get on his flight, but he still wants the incident reported. Mayor Bottoms responded to his tweet, saying “Sorry to hear about your experience. It’s my understanding that this was not APD, but another one of the many agencies working in the airport. We are working to confirm.” Andre continued to share about his experience on Twitter, explaining that it may have been the DEA that was responsible for the incident, not the Atlanta PD, and that he was seeking answers.

“So glad to hear Atlanta PD doesn’t operate like this, but who was the agency that interrogated me and why does ATL allow an agency with those kinds of random search rules to operate in one of the busiest airports in the world?” Andre asked.

The investigation is ongoing. The Atlanta Police Department told TMZ that their officers were NOT involved in the interaction with Eric. APD says multiple law enforcement agencies operate at the airport, and it appears the incident involved another agency,” and that “APD’s Airport Drug Interdiction Unit does not randomly approach travelers and ask to search them.”