Amy Cooper, the woman who called the police on a bird watcher after he asked her to put her dog on a leash in a public park, has been charged for filing a false police report.
On May 25, Cooper, a financier who used to work for Franklin Templeton, called the authorities and alleged that an African-American man was threatening her and her dog in Central Park.
Later identified as 57-year-old Christian Cooper, the man explained he is a passionate bird watcher who merely asked the woman to put her dog on a leash because the animal was “tearing through the plantings” in a protected area.
After confronting Amy and asking her to put her dog on a leash, Christian was met with a fierce response whereas the woman became agitated and called the cops after he pulled out his dog treats.
“I’m in the Ramble, there is a man, African-American, he has a bicycle helmet and he is recording me and threatening me and my dog. I am being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately!” she told the 911 operator.
Following the incident, the Manhattan district attorney shared a statement that confirmed Cooper has been charged with “falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.”
“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,” Vance shared in a Twitter post along with a statement from the Office.
After the incident went viral, Cooper has been fired from her job at Franklin Templeton and surrendered her dog to a shelter.
Despite the calls for Cooper to have her dog taken from her permanently due to the way she treated the animal during the confrontation, she has already been reunited with the pooch. As seen in the video taken by Christian, Cooper was pulling and dragging her dog by the collar while talking with the operator and confronting the birder.
Following the backlash, Cooper issued a public apology, which was well-accepted by Christian, and admitted she was wrong.
“I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash,” she expressed.
Cooper is set to be arraigned on October 14.
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Replaced!