A disturbing incident in NYC’s Central Park went viral on Monday after a video of the altercation was posted to Twitter. A white woman was filmed as she called police on a black man who had asked her to leash her dog. The Karen, who was later identified as Amy Cooper, told police that “there’s an African American man threatening my life.”
NBC News reports: “Meanwhile, Christian didn’t appear to move any closer to Amy. He tells NBC New York that he’s an avid bird watcher who was in The Ramble, a popular spot in the park for birders, around 8 a.m. Monday morning. He says he only asked Amy to put her dog on the leash in the area where it’s required to have your dog on a leash at all times. … When Christian refused to stop recording her, Amy grabs her dog’s collar and moves away from him to call the police, the video shows. The woman repeats her assertions several times to dispatchers while struggling to keep the dog within her control, lifting the dog up and pulling it by its collar several times.”
Amy Cooper has apologized to CNN: “I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way. I think I was just scared. When you’re alone in the Ramble, you don’t know what’s happening. It’s not excusable, it’s not defensible.”
Amy Cooper has now been suspended from her job.
UPDATE: Cooper has been fired.
And she has lost custody of her dog:
