Comic and actor Eric Andre has charged that he just lately confronted racial harassment and discrimination whereas touring by way of the Melbourne Airport in Australia.
Andre described his expertise on the Melbourne Airport in an Instagram video he uploaded on Sunday, alleging he was put in a line the place he was “sniffed thoroughly by a dog.”
The Black, biracial comic stated he had traveled from New York Metropolis to Brisbane, Australia, to movie a challenge. He defined that he had been on a sequence of flights for greater than 25 hours, with stops in Los Angeles and Melbourne.
“It’s like one of the many times I’ve been racially profiled at the airport,” Andre stated. “So this is a message for all Black, brown and Indigenous people traveling through Melbourne today … please be careful.”
“They are searching Black, brown and Indigenous people,” he added, earlier than asking his Instagram followers to share any data they may have on Melbourne Airport’s insurance policies on its sniffer canine.
He additionally requested his followers for any leads on attorneys in Australia who deal with racial discrimination instances.
“Anybody hiring me to work in Australia going forward, whether it’s a production or a tour, please don’t make me go through the Melbourne Airport alone,” he stated. “Please provide a police escort or some type of security escort for me. Or have me fly into Brisbane or Sydney directly.”
“I do not feel safe in the Melbourne Airport,” he stated. “I do not want to be humiliated or racially discriminated against anymore at these airports.”
A spokesperson for the Melbourne Airport instructed HuffPost that the airport “does not tolerate racism in any form.”
“We welcome all passengers to Melbourne, and we expect everyone to be treated equally,” the spokesperson stated, including that the airport requested different Australian authorities companies “in charge of processing all international arrivals into Australia” to analyze the matter.
“Those agencies have now provided a response to Mr Andre,” the consultant stated.
VALERIE MACON through Getty Photographs
A spokesperson for Australia’s Division of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) instructed NBC Information that every one passengers arriving in Australia are “part of biosecurity screening processes for things such as fresh fruit or vegetables, plants and food, or soil on footwear or recreational equipment.”
“Any traveler coming into Australia will experience some or all of these screening measures,” the spokesperson stated, itemizing “general screening with the assistance of our highly trained dogs” as certainly one of its screening measures.
Andre has spoken out about racial profiling earlier than.
In 2021, he stated he was racially profiled by legislation enforcement brokers on the Atlanta airport.
Andre and fellow comic Clayton English filed a lawsuit the next yr alleging they had been racially profiled and illegally stopped in separate incidents by Clayton County, Georgia, officers on the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport.
Their attorneys filed an enchantment on their behalf in January after the lawsuit was dismissed.
