Back in 2021, Eric Andre went on Jimmy Kimmel (and Twitter) to detail an incident of alleged racial profiling by plainclothes cops at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Now, the comedian and his associate Clayton English are suing the Clayton County police over separate incidents of profiling and coercive searches.
Both comedians allege that their constitutional rights were violated by police in being subjected to unreasonable searches, seizures and racial discrimination ahead of their respective flights. Clayton County, CCPD chief Kevin Roberts, CCDAO investigator Michael Hooks and multiple CCPD officers are named in the suit, ET reports.
Andre alleges that he was "blocked in a jet bridge by two police officers" and interrogated about drugs. He previously likened the experience to "old-school, Giuliani stop-and-frisk racial profiling."
"I didn't see any other Black people boarding at the time," he said. "It's hard to believe I was selected at 'random' for questioning. It was a humiliating and degrading experience."
The filing states:
By ambushing passengers in this manner, the Unit's officers compound the enormous, preexisting compulsion to cooperate with airport law enforcement by exploiting the passengers' fear they will create an untoward scene or will appear guilty, subversive, or dangerous to their fellow passengers. By design, all of these factors exert tremendous coercive pressure on an individual passenger on the jet bridge to acquiesce to the officers' wishes. Those pressures are even greater for persons of colour, given the history of racial profiling by airport security officers.
The Clayton County Police Department has defended the bridge stops in question as "consensual encounters," maintaining that passengers are selected at random. A press release cites public data that argues the opposite, noting that 56 percent of passengers stopped by the CCPD at bridge stops in the airport were Black, while Black flyers make up only eight percent of US airline passengers.
Andre and English are seeking a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal costs. Additionally, the comedians are requesting that the court declare Clayton County's jet bridge interdiction program unconstitutional.
Andre stated that he felt a "moral calling" to file the lawsuit "so these practices can stop and these cops can be held accountable for this, because it's unethical," via the Associated Press. "I have the resources to bring national attention and international attention to this incident. It's not an isolated incident," he added. "If Black people don't speak up for each other, who will?"
Both comedians allege that their constitutional rights were violated by police in being subjected to unreasonable searches, seizures and racial discrimination ahead of their respective flights. Clayton County, CCPD chief Kevin Roberts, CCDAO investigator Michael Hooks and multiple CCPD officers are named in the suit, ET reports.
Andre alleges that he was "blocked in a jet bridge by two police officers" and interrogated about drugs. He previously likened the experience to "old-school, Giuliani stop-and-frisk racial profiling."
"I didn't see any other Black people boarding at the time," he said. "It's hard to believe I was selected at 'random' for questioning. It was a humiliating and degrading experience."
The filing states:
By ambushing passengers in this manner, the Unit's officers compound the enormous, preexisting compulsion to cooperate with airport law enforcement by exploiting the passengers' fear they will create an untoward scene or will appear guilty, subversive, or dangerous to their fellow passengers. By design, all of these factors exert tremendous coercive pressure on an individual passenger on the jet bridge to acquiesce to the officers' wishes. Those pressures are even greater for persons of colour, given the history of racial profiling by airport security officers.
The Clayton County Police Department has defended the bridge stops in question as "consensual encounters," maintaining that passengers are selected at random. A press release cites public data that argues the opposite, noting that 56 percent of passengers stopped by the CCPD at bridge stops in the airport were Black, while Black flyers make up only eight percent of US airline passengers.
Andre and English are seeking a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal costs. Additionally, the comedians are requesting that the court declare Clayton County's jet bridge interdiction program unconstitutional.
Andre stated that he felt a "moral calling" to file the lawsuit "so these practices can stop and these cops can be held accountable for this, because it's unethical," via the Associated Press. "I have the resources to bring national attention and international attention to this incident. It's not an isolated incident," he added. "If Black people don't speak up for each other, who will?"
