In late May, the “Central Park Karen” incident became a national story. A black bird-watcher named Christian Cooper asked a white woman, Amy Cooper, to leash her dog. She called the cops on him and he recorded her side of call, which included her feigning hysteria about an “African-American man threatening me.” It was the same kind of intensity white women have brought, historically, when trying to get black children or black men lynched. She even choked and hurt her dog and attempted to get in Christian Cooper’s face too. It was disgusting. The whole thing was horrible.
What came after was interesting though. Christian Cooper became something of a celebrity, complete with lovely profiles in newspapers and bird-watching photoshoots. The Biden campaign reached out to him and he did an on-camera endorsement for Joe Biden too. Meanwhile, Amy Cooper’s dog was taken away from her for several weeks and then returned. She lost her job and she got outed as a racist a–hole. And now she’s being charged with a crime. A misdemeanor.
Amy Cooper, the white woman who called police on a Black bird watcher who had asked her to leash her dog in a section of New York City’s Central Park, will face misdemeanor charges in the incident, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance announced on Monday.
“Today our Office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree,” the D.A. said in a press release. “Our office will provide the public with additional information as the case proceeds. At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reporting to contact our Office. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable.”
The desk appearance ticket was issued to Amy for an arraignment on Oct. 14, the release said. Amy — who was fired from her job in the aftermath and temporarily lost custody of her pet — has since apologized multiple times for the incident, calling it “unacceptable” to WNBC.
“I’m not a racist,” she told CNN. “I did not mean to harm that man in any way. [My] entire life is being destroyed right now.”
Initially, NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said that police — who arrived on the Central Park scene to find both parties gone — would not be pursuing charges against Amy.
The Amy Cooper crime happened, within the newscycle, about 24 hours before George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota. I remember several people making the (correct) point that Amy Cooper was absolutely trying to get that result, the result of cops murdering a black man. That was her goal. Which is attempted murder. Making a false police report, reporting a completely made-up crime in the hopes of getting a man lynched… that should be a felony. Not a misdemeanor. And no, I don’t give a f–k about Amy Cooper’s life being destroyed.
Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020
Photos courtesy of screencaps from video, NYT IG.
She deserves this and so much more. Also love that she is a washed out soul and that Christian Cooper is hawt as hell. I know I know, shallow. But she deserves it.
Watching this video has made me angry all over again. The sheer ENTITLEMENT of this woman. If you don’t know what white privilege looks like, this is the perfect example. Awful woman. I hope she, and many others, LEARN from this.
I’m not so sure. She was certain that nothing would happen to her and many others still think that way.
You’re right, I doubt anything will happen to her. Perhaps a bit of community service. If Twitter has taught me anything, it’s that there are a a lot of wilfully ignorant people out there who do not want to change their world-view. There are plenty of people who think and act like her.
They will probably go easy with her since “her life is already destroyed and hasn’t she been through enough?”
100%
She’ll plead out and pay a fine.
THIS makes me smile!!
Me too. I hope this follows her around like a kitten’s tail. She is a despicable person & performance piece deserves a stiffer charge. I am glad they aren’t playing the “she has already lost so much card” for had she been a member of any other ethic group she would have been in jail a long time ago. I still feel awful that the dog was returned to her
She does not deserve that dog. And also, people who chop off dogs’ tails, trim the ears (like Dobies, which are meant to have big floppy ears) are horrible. Poor pup.
Good. I’m not here for her tears. And if course she’s a racist. How is that even in question?
Oh I am absolutely here for her tears. Cry, b¡*ch, cry. I hope your life is never able to recover from this.
I strongly second this notion 🙂
I’ll admit, I thought racists were KKK ppl, and ppl who overtly told blacks to leave “we don’t like your kind”, etc. I’m learning racism includes micro-aggressions and “not seeing color”- and these “chin held high” misconceptions about racism—these were misguided, I didn’t know I had work to do. Amy did not self-identify as a racist at the time of her apology- it’s taking work for her and for all non-Black ppl. I’m learning I -was- racist. I can tell you I grew up with not ONE Black person in my circle. Not one. I am heightened around Black people. I’m beside myself with questions, I don’t know how to act.
The Root is an excellent place to read and listen. If you comment respectfully, people may be willing to answer relevant (to the article) questions. Read first and remember that you are a guest in their house and that they are not there to teach the basics. If you go in with open mind you can learn a lot there. Not just history (tho there is a lot there) but current culture and what is going on right now.
Good for you for wanting to learn and do better!
Glad she has been charged. She should also be charged with animal cruelty for yanking that poor dog around by the neck.
Same here. I’m still mad the rescue returned that poor dog to her.
I mean if the police called it a felony or attempted murder they would be admitting they easily kill people Willy nilly. So there’s a conflict of interest. And if they come out and say that, it kind of makes them look guiltiest than her. As of now she’s not responsible for any deaths. And they’d be claiming she wanted them to kill based on the fact she sees them as killers.
She’s charged with lying. I don’t like headlines saying she’s charged for calling the cops . She can call, but it’s right that lying to the cops should be a illegal.
Good! I’m glad this POS was charged! Hopefully, others will learn from this. Hopefully!!!!!
“My entire life is being destroyed right now.” Oh, cry me a f*cking river. You tried to END his. The LEAST that can happen is that your life gets destroyed.
Seriously, she could have walked away or stopped this at anytime. It was her conscious choice to call the cops and lie to them about Chris Cooper, an African-American man, threatening her. She made a conscious decision to try to get him hurt or killed because he asked her to put her dog on a leash, which was the rule in this particular part of the park. She made a conscious decision to try to destroy his life. She just didn’t realize it would destroy her life instead.
The BBC reported this story but only say that her dog was taken away not that it was later returned. I’m annoyed with the omission as I worry that losing her job, losing her dog, will make her appear more sympathetic to audiences over here and undermine the gravity of what she did and that it’s absolutely right that she faces consequences for her actions.
I’m glad she has faced repercussions, and now faces charges, even if they are minor. I hope it prevents someone else from doing what she did.
“[My] entire life is being destroyed right now.”
Oh, honey, NO.
YOU and YOU alone destroyed your life by trying to get a polite, law-abiding bird watcher arrested and/or killed. The blame is yours and yours alone. Take the L and quit whining.
as more and more of these crazy racist white people are being filmed and shared on the internet (aka, crawling out from under the rocks they’ve been living under), i consistently think about why they are not being charged with filing false reports so i was happy to see this. this is not only dangerous but it’s a giant waste of time for police departments and they unnecessarily put people at risk. the more that these awful people are held accountable for these calls, the less we will see them because they won’t want to risk being charged.
I wish she hadn’t gotten the dog back. She deserves to be isolated, hated and publicly shamed.
@Esp. Lumiere – Yes, she’s does… her, and people like her, ALL deserve whatever consequences come their way.
Play stupid, life threatening games, win stupid dangerous prizes.
Amy is actually Canadian. I hope they don’t deport her since we definitely don’t want her back
I was just about to say this. It’s like yeah, thanks Canada but we already have a surplus of Karens and Kens down here. Thanks again!
She is EXACTLY what this law is trying to prevent. She knowingly called in a false report then continued to blatantly like on the phone. She should get the full brunt of this law and spend a year in jail. And it is not a side point that she should never have gotten that dog back. She almost strangled it to death. Newsflash Amy, you ARE a racist and you deserve everything that is coming to you.
MORE OF THIS PLEASE! Then maybe they will stop calling the cops all willy nilly !