Amy Cooper, the woman in Central Park who called police on Memorial Day claiming “there’s an African American man threatening my life,” will be charged with filing a false report, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, according to an announcement Monday by the Manhattan district attorney.
“Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree,” said Cyrus R. Vance, according to The New York Times. “We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable.”
Cooper, 41, surrendered Monday at the prosecutor’s office and was later released, according to reports. Her arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Sentencing options are likely to include community service or counseling instead of jail time, the Times reported.
Cooper was fired from her job at global investment firm Franklin Templeton after video emerged of her confronting a bird-watcher who politely asked if she could put her dog on a leash as Central Park rules required. Instead, she called police.
The incident happened hours before George Floyd’s death.
The viral footage of the confrontation, which was viewed millions of times, shows Cooper angrily approach the man, now identified as Christian Cooper, and threaten to call the police for no reason.
The next day, she publicly apologized for the incident in which she told the other Cooper: “I’m taking a picture and calling the cops,” she said before placing the call. “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.”
What happened
During the brief exchange, Cooper yanked her dog by the collar several times and then falsely told emergency dispatchers that her life was in danger.
As Christian Cooper began filming the episode, Amy Cooper can be seen grabbing her dog by the collar and lifting the animal off its front legs as she marched toward the man.
“Please don’t come close to me,” Christian Cooper is heard saying as the woman advances and points her finger at him, the video shows.
The two continue to exchange words until Amy Cooper, who was still holding the dog by the collar, retreated a few yards and called authorities.
The video shows Christian Cooper never moved toward the woman as she tussled with the dog, who had become agitated. When Amy Cooper finally got emergency dispatchers on the phone, she sounded distressed and out of breath.
She then told authorities that an African American man with a bicycle helmet was recording her and “threatening myself and my dog.”
“Please send the cops immediately!” she yelled to the dispatcher.
At that moment, Cooper hitched her dog’s collar again and the animal struggled to break free from her grasp.
“I’m being threatened by a man in the Ramble,” Amy Cooper yelled to the dispatcher while struggling to leash the dog. “Please send the cops immediately!” she yelled again.
The aftermath
After the incident, Christian shared the footage to his Facebook page, where it has been viewed more than 30 million times. The short video shows Amy Cooper angrily approach him, point in his face and threaten to call the police. Christian Cooper can be heard exchanging words with the woman, but he never raised his voice or took any steps toward her.
Since the video was posted, Amy Cooper said her “entire life is being destroyed.” Social media activists took snapshots of her Facebook profile, which were widely shared to shame her.
1984 Harvard graduate
Christian Cooper is a 1984 Harvard graduate. The 57-year-old works as a science editor at Health Science Communications.
He used to work as an editor for Marvel Comics and introduced the first gay character into Star Trek comics, according to the LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate.
He is also an avid bird-watcher.
‘Karens’
Comments on Facebook and Twitter said the incident was a familiar reprise in modern society in which someone who is white calls authorities as a way of weaponizing the police against Black people.
Perpetrators of the incidents are now commonly referred to as “Karens.”
Days after the incident, New York lawmakers introduced legislation that would make false police reports against people of color a hate crime.
Christian Cooper said his own awareness of racial profiling in America led him to record the confrontation with Amy Cooper. “I videotaped it because I thought it was important to document things,” Christian Cooper told CNN after the incident. “Unfortunately, we live in an era with things like Ahmaud Arbery, where Black men are seen as targets,” he said, referring to the young Black man who was shot to death in February while jogging through a neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia. “This woman thought she could exploit that to her advantage, and I wasn’t having it,” he said.
— This is a developing story. Please stay with AJC.com for the latest updates.
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