Comedian Eric Andre has accused police officers of racial profiling after he was subjected to a drug search at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia.
The Lion King actor has claimed he was stopped by authorities inside the departure terminal as he prepared to board a flight to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Andre documented the incident in a series of Twitter posts, in which he initially thought the officers were members of the Atlanta Police Department.
"I was just racially profiled by two plainclothes Atlanta PD police in @Delta terminal T3 at the Atlanta airport," he wrote. "They stopped me on the way down the bridge to the plane for a 'random' search and asked they could search me for drugs (sic). I told them no. Be careful."
He went on to update followers about the situation as he sought to identify the cops involved and draw the attention of Mayor Keisha Bottoms by tagging her in the tweet: "They let me go. I'm on the plane in the air. I'm fine now but I want this reported..."
Andre subsequently discovered the officers were from Clayton County Police Department, and pushed back after a spokesperson claimed it was a "consensual encounter," during which the actor is said to have "voluntarily consented" to a search of his luggage, although authorities decided against doing so.
Firing back at the statement, the funnyman declared, "I did NOT volunteer to a search and I did not volunteer to talk. You guys flashed your badge and detained me with no probable cause except for racism. This is JIM CROW RACISM."
He also posted the CCPD press release on Twitter and wrote, "This is sad and full of misinformation @KeishaBottoms please help me. @ClaytonCountyPD violated my rights.”
Andre has since been in touch with his lawyer about the incident and asked his Twitter followers for recommendations for local legal representation in Atlanta.
