‘Central Park Karen’ Faces Charges After Calling Cops On Black Man Watching Birds

Amy Cooper, 41, a white woman, called the police on a black man who was bird watching and asked her to leash her dog. She lied to authorities bay telling them the man was threatening her life.

Now the “Central Park Karen” is facing charges herself.

“Today our Office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance wrote in a statement. “At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reporting to contact our Office. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable.”

Cooper is being charged with a third-degree misdemeanor for filing a false police report.

Source: Twitter/Melody Cooper
Amy Cooper was walking her dog in New York’s Central Park without a leash when Christian Cooper, who was watching birds, asked her to follow the law.

Video of the incident, recorded by the man Cooper threatened, Christian Cooper (no relation), has been circulating around the internet ever since the incident occurred.

According to CBS News, Amy Cooper was dismissed from her job at investment management company Franklin Templeton, which said said it “made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately.”

Source: Twitter/Melody Cooper
Cooper became defensive and aggressive when asked to leash her dog.

Amy Cooper later apologized to the man the called the police on in a written statement.

“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,” she wrote.

The woman was criticized online, with many calling for her to surrender the dog she was shown with in the video, which she eventually did.

Source: Twitter/Melody Cooper
Now known as the “Central Park Karen,” video of Amy Cooper’s outburst has been circulating online.

“Thank you to the concerned public for reaching out to us about a video involving a dog that was adopted from our rescue a few years ago,” Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Inc. posted to Facebook. “As of this evening, the owner has voluntarily surrendered the dog in question to our rescue while this matter is being addressed.

As this case progresses, the Manhattan District Attorney may have some issue in pursuing its case against the white woman, as Cristian Cooper has since refused to cooperate in the investigation.

Source: Twitter/Melody Cooper
Amy Cooper faces a third-degree misdemeanor for filing a false police report.

“On the one hand, she’s already paid a steep price,” he said. “That’s not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on.”

“So if the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges. But he can do that without me.”