Tyler Perry wrote an op-ed Wednesday speaking out against alleged racial discrimination experienced by his friends, comedians Eric Andre and Clayton English.
In his column, Perry points to a lawsuit filed earlier this year alleging that both Andre and English were illegally detained by officials at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. But stopped. Earlier this year, Perry and several other actors — including Jamie Foxx, Taraji P. Henson, Sterling K. Brown and Ridge-Jean Page — briefed a friend of the court as part of the trial.
“Andre and English were targeted and stopped by Clayton County Police Department (CCPD) officers over several months on the jet bridges of the Atlanta airport as they stepped from boarding their flights,” Perry wrote. had been.”
Despite the fact that both men were cleared by TSA security, Perry wrote that the comedians were approached by plainclothes police officers, alleging that they were targeted because of “the color of their skin.” was made
“Of the hundreds of passengers stopped by CCPD’s special airport drug unit in the months between the Andre and English stops, the majority (56%) were black, while the airport’s domestic flights Only 8% of passengers are black.” Citing information from Andre and the English team at the Policing Project at New York University School of Law, as well as information from Jones Day, Lawrence & Bondi and Canfield Law.
Perry claimed that the officers may have stopped their friends with the intention of taking their money, alleging that when authorities stop travelers, “the officers are authorized to seize any property that They claim he is involved in crime, including cash.”
According to his report, “In the months that Andre and English were stopped, the CCPD collected nearly $1 million from passengers who had never been charged with a crime.”
The media mogul concluded on a broad note about racism in America, writing that “law enforcement agencies engaging in racial profiling and trying to hide the truth about it is nothing new in this country. Yet, every time this happens, we are reminded that, as black people, we are viewed – even by our own government – as less respected and respected than our white friends, neighbors and colleagues. And when we are segregated by the police, the very officers who are sworn to protect us, we face the real horrors of it and when police officers interact with black people. If you do, it often goes wrong.
“Every act of racial discrimination is a breach of promise, an affront to our dignity, an affront to Atlanta’s history and a mark of history that America must leave behind,” he added.
Perry also noted that his Atlanta-based film studio “welcomes thousands of industry professionals every year to work in Atlanta.”
“When racial discrimination goes unchecked, it threatens that progress,” Perry wrote. “Black people should have the freedom to travel without having to worry about being stopped because of the color of our skin.”
Atlanta Airport and the Clayton County Police Department were contacted for comment.
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