A white woman, Amy Cooper who called the police on a black man in New York Central Park and falsely accused him of threatening her life has been charged to court for filing a false police report.
On May 26, the Caucasian woman incited international outrage across social media platforms after a video of her lying to the police that a birdwatcher Christian Cooper (not related to her) was threatening her life surfaced on the internet.
The woman made the false allegation simply because the black man demanded that she put her dog on a leash, as park guidelines dictate.
During the viral video of the incident, Amy could be heard telling Christian Cooper;
I am going to tell them there is an African American man threatening my life.
Amy made the call while Christian Cooper recorded, the video which later went viral after the sister of the black man, Melody posted it on Twitter.
The woman speaking hysterically to the police over the phone said;
I am in the Ramble (the name of the Central Park), 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!
Amy Cooper has now been charged with filing a false report, a misdemeanor which can be punished by up to a year in jail.
Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, stated that;
Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable. Amy was issued a desk appearance ticket and will be arraigned on October 14.
If convicted, she could be given a conditional discharge or sentenced to community service or counseling rather than jail time.
In the aftermath of the video, Amy surrendered her dog, Henry, to the animal shelter where she had adopted him from two years before. She has since been reunited with the dog.
Amy also got fired from her job as a head of insurance portfolio management at Franklin Templeton in the US.
Read Also: Amy Cooper: White Woman Sacked For Falsely Accusing A Black Man Of Threatening Her Life
The woman issued a public apology and tried to explain her response to Christian’s request.
She said;
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.
The incident led to an investigation from by the city’s Human Rights Commission and the enactment of a new law that makes it a crime to falsely call police on a minority.
