The producer and filmmaker penned an op-ed in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stating that his two friends, comedians Eric André and Clayton English, had filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging that both men were racially profiled and harassed by authorities at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport,

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Perry said several other celebrities joined him in filing a friend-of-the-court brief as part of the suit. He also described how André and English were “targeted” by local police at the airport as they were about to take off to their destinations.

“André and English were targeted and stopped by Clayton County Police Department (CCPD) officers, several months apart, on jet bridges in Atlanta’s airport while they were steps from boarding their flights,” Perry wrote.

The Madea creator noted that both men had already passed through TSA security. However, as soon as they were set to board their flights, André and English were approached by plainclothed Clayton County police officers because of “the color of their skin,” Perry alleged.

To support his column, Perry shared statistics from André and English’s legal team, highlighting that Black travelers are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement for various reasons.

“Of the hundreds of passengers stopped by CCPD’s special airport drug unit in the months between when André and English were stopped, a majority (56 percent) were Black, while only 8 percent of that airport’s domestic air travelers are Black,” he added.

Perry also wrote that when officers stop travelers at the airport, “[they] are allowed to seize any property they claim is involved in a crime, including cash, a process known as civil asset forfeiture.” Perry said reclaiming their property “is notoriously difficult and expensive for victims” even when they have not been charged with a crime, People reported.

“In other words, police can take money straight from the pockets of innocent people and put it into their department’s coffers,” Perry wrote. “In the months between when André and English were stopped, CCPD raked in close to $1 million from travelers who never were charged with any crime.”

Perry, who owns a film studio in Atlanta, said the studio welcomes “thousands of industry professionals every year to work in Atlanta.”

“When racial discrimination occurs unchecked, it threatens that growth,” he wrote. “Black people must have the freedom to travel without worrying about being stopped because of the color of our skin.”

He added, “Every act of racial discrimination is a broken promise, an affront to our dignity, an insult to Atlanta’s history and a vestige of a history that America must leave behind.”