ATLANTA – American comedians Eric André and Clayton English are challenging a police initiative at Atlanta airport that they believe violates the constitutional rights of passengers, especially blacks, through racial profiles and body searches, just before boarding.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta on Tuesday, the couple claim they were racist and illegally intercepted by Clayton County police at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The two men, known comedians and comedians, say the agents targeted them for being black at separate stops, about six months apart, and questioned them in front of everyone about drugs.
In an interview, Eric André claims that other travelers looked at him with suspicion when he had done nothing wrong, and describes the experience as “dehumanizing and demoralizing”.
Although the stated aim of the police initiative is to combat drug trafficking, officers rarely find any according to the cause. On the other hand, the money seized in the luggage constitutes a boon to the police services, the complainants believe.
Clayton County Police and County Attorney’s Office investigators are selectively intercepting passengers in narrow airport walkways leading to planes, the lawsuit claims. The officers are checking the boarding passes and IDs of some passengers and interrogating them, sometimes searching their luggage, the lawyers of the two men in the lawsuit say.
The Service de police qualifie ces interpellations de “rencontres consensuelles” et soutient qu’elles sont “aléatoires”, mais les plaignants estiment qu’en réalité, elles “reposent sur la coercition et que les cibles sont sélectionnées de manière disproportionnée en fonction de leurité race”.
The Clayton County Police Department did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment on Tuesday.
Drugs and cash
Police records show that from August 30, 2020 to April 30, 2021, there were 402 stops at the boarding bridges, and the skin color of the passengers was listed for 378 of those stops. Of those 378 passengers, 211, or 56 percent, were black, and black people accounted for 258 total stops, or 68 percent, according to the suit.
These 402 arrests resulted in three reported drug seizures: approximately 10 grams of drugs from one passenger, 26 grams of gummy candies suspected of containing THC from another, and six prescription, but non-prescription pills from a third, indicate the pursuit. . Two of the three passengers were subsequently reported.
On the other hand, these 402 arrests also resulted in over $ 1 million in cash and money orders seized from 25 passengers, it is said. 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 contested the seizures, and Clayton County Police solved each case, returning much of the money seized, the lawsuit claims.
Carrying large amounts of money doesn’t mean getting involved in illegal drug-related activities, lawyers argue, noting that people of color are less likely to have bank accounts and therefore are more likely to carry large sums of money when traveling.
The lawsuit targets Clayton County and the chief of police, as well as four police officers and an investigator from the district attorney’s office. Violations of constitutional rights are reported which protect against racial discrimination and unreasonable seizures and searches.
The two comedians are calling for a jury trial and demanding that the Clayton County Police initiative be declared unconstitutional. They also ask for compensatory and punitive damages.
