Comedians Eric André and Clayton English say they were racially profiled at Atlanta's airport. Now they've filed a lawsuit asking that the practice be declared unconstitutional.
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.A Clayton County Police Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that the department had “no comment on pending litigation at this time.” The Clayton County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday.
“I felt completely powerless, I felt violated, I felt cornered, I felt like I couldn’t … continue to get on the plane — I felt like I had to comply if I wanted everything to go smoothly,” English said at a news conference Tuesday, alongside André and their attorneys.The lawsuit notes that other passengers “gawked” at English as the officers questioned him about his travel plans and inspected his identification and plane tickets.
From Aug. 30, 2020, to April 30, 2021, the Clayton County Police Department conducted 402 jet bridge stops, the lawsuit says, citing department records. During that period, according to the lawsuit, officers found fewer than 0.08 pounds of illegal drugs and six prescription pills for which passengers did not have a prescription, while the department pursued charges against just two passengers.
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