(Atlanta) American comedians Eric André and Clayton English are challenging a police initiative at Atlanta airport that they say violates the constitutional rights of passengers, especially black people, through racial profiling and body searches, while just before boarding.
Posted at 1:28 p.m.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta, the pair allege they were racially profiled and unlawfully intercepted by Clayton County police at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The two men, well-known comedians and comedians, say officers targeted them for being black in separate stops, about six months apart, and questioned them in front of everyone about drug.
In an interview, Eric André maintains that the other travelers looked at him with suspicion, when he had done nothing wrong, and he describes the experience as “dehumanizing and demoralizing”.
Although the stated goal of the police initiative is to combat drug trafficking, officers rarely find any, according to the lawsuit. On the other hand, the money seized in the luggage constitutes a windfall for the police services, believe the complainants.
Clayton County police and county attorney’s office investigators are selectively intercepting passengers in the narrow airport walkways that lead to the planes, the suit says. Officers are checking the boarding passes and IDs of some passengers and questioning them, sometimes searching their luggage, say lawyers for the two men in the lawsuit.
The Police Service calls these stops “consensual encounters” and claims they are “random”, but the complainants believe that in reality they are “based on coercion and that the targets are selected disproportionately based on their breed “.
The Clayton County Police Department did not immediately respond to an email Tuesday seeking comment.
Drugs and cash
Police records show that from August 30, 2020 to April 30, 2021, there were 402 stops at boarding bridges, and passenger skin color was listed for 378 of those stops. Of those 378 passengers, 211, or 56%, were black, and people of color accounted for 258 total stops, or 68%, according to the suit.
These 402 stops resulted in three reported drug seizures: approximately 10 grams of drugs from one passenger, 26 grams of gummies suspected of containing THC from another, and six prescription, but non-prescription, pills from a third, indicates pursuit. Two of the three passengers were later charged.
On the other hand, these 402 arrests also brought in more than a million dollars in cash and money orders seized from 25 passengers, it is indicated. All but one were allowed to continue their journey, and only two – those who also had drugs – were charged, according to the plaintiffs. Eight of the 25 people disputed the seizures, and Clayton County police settled each case, returning much of the money seized, the suit says.
Carrying large amounts of cash does not mean one is involved in illegal drug-related activities, lawyers argue, noting that people of color are less likely to have bank accounts and are therefore more likely to carry large sums of money when travelling.
The lawsuit targets Clayton County and the police chief, as well as four police officers and an investigator from the district attorney’s office. Violations of constitutional rights that protect against racial discrimination and unreasonable seizures and searches are alleged.
The two comedians are asking for a jury trial and demanding that the Clayton County police initiative be declared unconstitutional. They also seek compensatory and punitive damages.