A white woman was captured on video calling the NYPD as she accused a black man of harassing and threatening her and her dog. The confrontation started when the black man asked the white woman to leash her dog in Central Park.
The viral video
The now-viral video is making rounds on Twitter and was posted by the sister of Christian Cooper, the man on the video. The woman, who was later identified as Amy Cooper, is shown on the viral video asking the man to stop recording her. When he continued to record their conversation, she told him she will call the cops on him and tell the authorities that there is an African American threatening her life.
Cooper repeated the line numerous times throughout the encounter, and each time she sounded more distressed and she got more hysterical while she looked like she was trying to call 911.
While Cooper was trying to call the cops, Christian did not move closer to her. He told NBC New York that he is a bird watcher and he was on The Ramble, a spot in Central Park that is made for bird watchers, on May 25, at around 8 a.m.
Christian said that he only asked Cooper to put her dog on a leash because it is an area in the park that pets must be on a leash at all times. Christian explained that the habitat must be preserved because if it gets destroyed by dogs, bird watchers can no longer see the birds.
When Cooper refused to put her dog on a leash, he said that he offered her dog a treat and he started recording what happened after.
The video shows that Cooper used the race card in the situation, and when Christian refused to stop recording their confrontation, Cooper grabs her dog's collar and she moves away from him to call 911. She claimed that Christian was threatening her life and the life of her dog.
Christian said that he kept recording the confrontation because he refused to be intimidated. He said that they live in the age of Ahmaud Arbery, where black men are killed because of assumptions that people make about their race. He stopped recording the incident after Cooper put her dog on a leash and he was heard thanking her after.
The police arrived at the scene but he already left. There were no complaints or arrests made after the authorities noted that it was just a verbal dispute.
The backlash
The video had more than 11 million views on Twitter. Amy Cooper talked to NBC New York and said that she overreacted and claimed that Christian was screaming, she added that she felt threatened because she didn't know what was in the treats that Christian gave her dog.
Amy Cooper apologized for the incident but the damage was already done. Her employer, Franklin Templeton, has put her on administrative leave. Cooper works at an investment management company.
Aside from the criticism that she received because of her racist outburst, she is also criticized for animal cruelty because she appeared to be holding her dog's collar for almost a minute, thus choking the dog.
According to an animal shelter, Abandoned Angles Cocker Spaniel Rescue, she adopted the dog a few years ago and has surrendered the go while the incident is being investigated.
