Christian Cooper: Black man targeted by 'racist' white woman in NY park is upset she's getting death threats
An African-American man who was the target of a racist tirade from a white woman after he asked her to leash her dog has spoken out after it was confirmed she was fired from her job and said that such action does not address "the underlying racial issues." MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported how Amy Cooper had gone viral after she was filmed getting into an argument with Christian Cooper in the wooded area of Central Park known as The Ramble, where all pets are required to be kept on a leash.
Christian explained in a Facebook post that he politely asked Amy to leash her dog, only for her to refuse and threatens to calls the police on him. When he invites her to "please call the cops," she responds, "I'm going to tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life." After he says, "Please tell them whatever you like," she can be heard telling the 911 operator, "I'm in The Ramble and an African-American man with a bicycle helmet, he is recording me and threatening my dog."
Following a brief pause, she becomes hysterical. "I'm sorry I can't hear," she cried. "I'm being threatened by a man in The Ramble, please send the cops immediately..." The incident was widely slammed as racist on social media, with New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio condemning Amy and stating such behavior had "no place in our city." "The video out of Central Park is racism, plain and simple," he said on Twitter. "She called the police because he was a black man. Even though she was the one breaking the rules, she decided he was the criminal and we know why. This kind of hatred has no place in our city."
Soon after, Franklin Templeton, where she worked as head of insurance investment solutions, said they had placed her on administrative leave before announcing they had terminated her from her position. "Following our internal review of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton," they said in a statement.
Christian, a Harvard graduate who served as the president of the school's Ornithological Club in the 1980s and was bird-watching at the time of the incident, said he did not approve of Amy's firing because it not resolve any of the actual problems. "I’m not sure how I feel about that," he told New York Daily News. "I can’t see how that addresses the underlying issues. I think it’s important to move beyond this instance and this one individual. Too much focus has been put on her when it really is about the underlying issues that have plagued this city and this country for centuries. Racial issues."
Amy has issued an apology for her behavior, telling CNN, "I'm not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way," she shared adding that she also meant no harm to the African American community. "I think I was just scared," she shared. "When you’re alone in the Rumble, you don't know what’s happening. It’s not excusable, it’s not defensible."
Christian said he couldn't judge if she was racist, but that her actions were a result of her abusing her white privilege. "Where she went was a racist place. That action was racist. Does that make her a racist? I can’t answer that. Only she can with what she does going forward," he said. "Maybe she was trying to gain an advantage. She went there, and she needs to reflect on what she did." However, he insisted that he was against the death threats she had been receiving on social media following the incident.
"I’m very upset she’s getting death threats," he said. "That’s antithetical to the appropriate response. If you’re upset that she put my life in danger by trying to bring the cops down on a black man, then how can you turn around and make a death threat? That makes no sense. It’s downright awful."