Amy Cooper makes a phone call in Central Park
Christian Cooper | Facebook
A white woman who was filmed in May reporting that “an African-American man” was threatening her life in Central Park after he asked her to lead her dog, will be prosecuted for making a false report, the US District Attorney for Monday said. Manhattan Cy Vance, Jr.
The video of Amy Cooper calling 911 was widely shared after it was posted online by the man, Christian Cooper, and his sister. Amy Cooper, who is not related to Christian Cooper, was later fired from her job at investment firm Franklin Templeton.
The incident, which sparked nationwide conversations about the history of black men falsely accused of crimes against white women, took place on Memorial Day, the same day that George Floyd was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, which that sparked weeks of protests against systemic racism around the world.
Vance said in a statement that Amy Cooper will face charges of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree. If convicted, you could face 15 days to a year in jail. It is scheduled to be processed on October 14.
“Our office will provide additional information to the public as the case progresses,” said Vance. “At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reports to contact our Office. We are firmly committed to holding perpetrators accountable for this conduct.”
Amy Cooper issued a public apology in late May, saying she “reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about her intentions when, in fact, I was the one who acted inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash.”
He said Christian Cooper offered treats to his dog and said, “He won’t like what I’m going to do next.”
“I assumed we were being threatened when all I had intended to do was record our meeting on his phone,” he said apologetically.
“I hope that a few mortifying seconds in a life of forty years do not define me in his eyes and that he accepts my sincere apologies,” he added.
Robert Barnes, a lawyer whose firm is based in Los Angeles, said in a Twitter post that he was representing Amy Cooper.
“The rush to judge is a curse to cancel the culture. Amy Cooper lost her job, her home, and her public life. Do some now demand that she lose her freedom?” he wrote in another tweet. “How many lives are we going to destroy by misunderstood 60-second videos on social media?”
In an interview with The New York Times published last month, Christian Cooper said Amy Cooper’s actions took advantage of a “deep streak of racial prejudice.”
“And it is that deep streak of racial prejudice that continues to emerge that led to far more serious events and far more serious repercussions than my little imbalance with Amy Cooper: the murder of George Floyd, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and before Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond and Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, “he said.
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