New Yorker Amy Cooper accused a black birdwatcher of threatening to poison her dog three years ago — a decision she still suffers from, the middle-aged white woman said in a recent Newsweek op-ed.
Amy, who was dubbed the “Central Park Karen,” unleashed her dog in Central Park in 2020. Birdwatcher Christian Cooper yelled at her to re-leash her dog, and said, “If you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it.”
Christian tried to lure her dog in with a treat, and Amy feared that he would try to poison her dog, she said. In a now-viral interaction, Amy called police and told them that an “African American man” was “threatening” her.
“Christian taunted me to call the police. Seeing no other choice, I called 911 and described the man who was threatening me. But due to very spotty service in the park, I had to repeat my description of Christian multiple times,” she said. “The 911 tape makes it very clear that the dispatcher couldn’t hear me due to the poor connection—yet this fact went unreported, skewing perceptions of my actions. There were never any racial implications to my words. I just felt raw fear, and desperately wanted help.”
The incident happened on May 25, 2020, the same day as George Floyd’s death. Amy was accused of racism and promptly fired by her employer, the investment firm Franklin Templeton.
“Everyone believed and amplified one story: That a white ‘Central Park Karen’ called the police on an innocent Black man, a bird watcher, because of the color of his skin,” Amy said. “Today, I want you to read and understand the whole story. Not just what the media told you. And after you assess both sides — please tell me — was my never-ending cancel-culture sentence a just verdict?”
Manhattan prosecutors charged Amy with one count of falsely reporting an incident in July 2020, and she attended therapy sessions on racial bias shortly after. Although her actions were not based on racial preconceptions, Amy continued, she has faced backlash since 2020.
“As Christian’s video went viral, my life, as I knew it, was over. All my personal information was released online. I received many hundreds of threatening graphic images, death threats, and hate mail, which continues to this day,” she wrote. “My employer fired me the day after the incident without ever taking the time to learn the facts. Clearly in survival mode, my company released a strong statement distancing itself from me, effectively blacklisting my career.”
The truth was never reported, Amy claimed, likely because “no one — not even the top-tier media outlets — felt safe from the unrelenting, unforgiving weight of cancel culture.”
“I know that’s why I feared telling my own story for so many years,” she said. “So, the next time you feel like telling someone to kill themselves after watching a two-minute video, know there is likely far more to the story — no matter what the claims.”