Birder case is dropped after woman gets therapy
NEW YORK >> Amy Cooper, the white woman arrested last year for calling 911 on a Black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park, had her criminal case thrown out Tuesday after completing a diversionary counseling program that prosecutors said was meant to educate her on the harm of her actions.
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said Manhattan prosecutors were satisfied with Cooper’s participation in the program — described as an alternative, restorative justice solution — and were not seeking to pursue the case any further. Such outcomes are standard for first-time offenders facing misdemeanor charges, Illuzzi said.
Judge Anne Swern, presiding over the matter by video because of the coronavirus pandemic, agreed to dismiss the charge of filing a false police report and said she would seal Cooper’s case file, in accordance with state law.
The confrontation, captured on video the same day Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, drew worldwide attention.
Christian Cooper, the birdwatcher who recorded the video and was the subject of Amy Cooper’s 911 call, said he had no reaction to the case being dismissed. Illuzzi said he declined to participate in the criminal case.
There is no relation between Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper.
Amy Cooper’s lawyer, Robert Barnes, praised prosecutors for a “thorough and honest inquiry.”
Amy Cooper, 41, drew widespread condemnation and was fired from her job as a portfolio manager at investment firm Franklin Templeton after frantically calling 911 on May 25 to claim she was being threatened by “an African American man” who had confronted her for walking her dog without a leash.
When police called Amy Cooper back in an attempt to locate her in the park, she falsely claimed the man, Christian Cooper, had “tried to assault her,” Illuzzi said. The second call was not recorded on video, Illuzzi said. It was previously reported incorrectly that Cooper was the one who called 911 again.