NY woman charged in incident with birder
Woman called 911 twice during run-in in May
NEW YORK – Amy Cooper, the white woman in Central Park who called police on a Black man bird-watching, called authorities a second time and falsely accused the man of trying to assault her, prosecutors say.
The woman was arraigned Wednesday and is facing a misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting an incident to police after she called 911 in May and falsely said Christian Cooper, the birdwatcher who asked her to leash her dog in an area that requires that dogs be on leashes, was threatening and tried to attack her.
The two share a last name but are not related.
In a previously unreported detail, Amy Cooper made a second call to 911 in which she falsely said that “an African American man ‘tried to assault’ her,” according to a criminal complaint against her.
After police arrived at the scene, she backtracked and told an officer that the man did not try to assault her or touch her.
Christian Cooper recorded the incident and shared video of it on Facebook, which quickly went viral and led to Amy Cooper’s firing from her asset management firm.
The video, however, only showed Amy Cooper falsely saying that Christian Cooper was threatening her, not that he “tried to assault her.”
The encounter occurred the same day that George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis as a white police officer dug his knee into Floyd’s neck. Video of Floyd’s death was also first shared on social media and sparked weeks of unrest across the country demanding racial justice and changes to policing.
“Amy Cooper engaged in racist criminal conduct when she falsely accused a Black man of trying to assault her in a previously unreported second call with a 911 dispatcher,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement Wednesday.
“Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the police response to Ms. Cooper’s hoax. Our Office will pursue a resolution of this case which holds Ms. Cooper accountable while healing our community, restoring justice, and deterring others from perpetuating this racist practice.”
Vance’s office first announced they were pursuing charges in July. Amy Cooper is facing a class A misdemeanor, which can carry up to a year in prison, according to New York law. Executive Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said during the Wednesday arraignment that the DA’s office would work with the defense on a program for Cooper to take responsibility and “educate her and the community on the harm caused by such actions.”
An attorney listed for Cooper did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment. Cooper did not enter a plea to the misdemeanor charge and is to appear in court again in November.
Cooper quickly apologized for the incident, but her employer, Franklin Templeton, fired her the next day. The video garnered national media attention, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned Cooper’s actions, saying they exemplified hatred that has “no place in our city.”