Amy Cooper was just charged with making a second phone call falsely accusing Black man
Canadian Amy Cooper, a white woman who called the police on a Black bird-watcher in Central Park in May, is now making headlines again as new details come to light.
A prosecutor revealed on Wednesday that Cooper made a second unreported call to 911 that day in which she falsely claimed that the man "tried to assault her."
The 40-year-old Waterloo grad appeared in court remotely to face misdemeanor charges of filing a false report; she was negotiating a plea deal that would allow her to avoid jail time.
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. https://t.co/SXtyCAg244
— Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) October 14, 2020
Officials are committed to "safety, justice and anti-racism," according to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.
"We will hold people who make false and racist 911 calls accountable," Vance said in the release. "As alleged in the complaint, 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."
Vance added that it was fortunate that "no one was injured or killed" as a result of Cooper's call.
The District Attorney office is considering a resolution that doesn't involve jail time; instead, Cooper would be required to publicly take responsibility for her actions and attend a program to educate her on how harmful they were.
For now, the case is adjourned until Nov. 17.
In the original viral video, Cooper is filmed calling 911 in New York on May 25 after a Black man asked her to leash her dog, as the rules stipulated.
Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020
The phone call took place on the same day that George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, sparking Black Lives Matter protests across Canada, the United States, and many other countries.
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