Two Black Comedians Sue Police Over Search at Atlanta Airport
Updated on September 7, 2015
Two black comedians have filed a $22 million lawsuit against Atlanta police and aviation officials after an officer allegedly grabbed and searched them as they left the airport.
A source told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that officers stopped the two men after they got off a flight from Los Angeles and were walking through a terminal when a TSA agent asked them if they had checked luggage on the plane. Another Atlanta TSA agent who was also at the airport said he saw the two men and asked them:
“What’s going on?”
The first man, comedian and actor Eddie Murphy, said he had a flight to Los Angeles and didn’t know if his bag was on the plane. The second man, actor and musician Donald Glover, said he had a Los Angeles day pass and didn’t know if his bags were in the plane’s overhead storage compartments, or if they were in another part of the plane.
Then, one officer said:
“Hey. What’s going on?”
The two men took their bags. They were searched and released.
The lawsuit names Atlanta police, TSA agent Michael Gwin and airport officials for not using reasonable force. The civil case was settled outside court, according to the Journal-Constitution.
“The TSA’s actions were unwarranted and in violation of the Constitutional rights of Eddie Murphy and Donald Glover,” attorney Mike Chaney told the paper.
This story is disgusting. The TSA is treating black people like dirt. I’m tired of being treated like a second class American. If I don’t like your religion, culture, etc. I don’t have to respect it. It also shows to me how racist Atlanta police are. It seems like they treat them just like they treat everybody.
Yes, that is really racist! Why are you posting this??? Why are the TSA harassing people like you who have white skin? Just because they are black? Do you have any proof of this? If you do then I want proof. I want proof that I am guilty!