Central Park 'Karen' Fired After Calling Police on Black Bird Watcher
The white woman who called police on a Black man who had asked her to leash her dog in New York’s Central Park has lost her job over the incident, her employer Franklin Templeton announced Tuesday (May 26).
Amy Cooper had been working as a vice-president of Investment Solutions for the New York firm.
The video posted to Twitter on Monday (May 25) shows Christian Cooper, a Black man and birdwatcher who was in an area of New York’s Central Park, asking Amy Cooper to leash her dog in accordance with park rules. The two begin to argue over the necessity for her to leash the dog and she threatens to call the police, saying: "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."
She then does just that and becomes hysterical while on the phone with police, meanwhile Cooper continues to record the incident, remaining calm through the entire experience.
She issued an apology over everything that happened, telling NBC New York that she now realized the gravity of what she did when she called police. “I’m such a blessed person. I’ve come to realize especially today that I think of [the police] as a protection agency, and unfortunately, this has caused me to realize that there are so many people in this country that don’t have that luxury."
Christian Cooper said that he actually would be willing to accept her apology if she agreed to follow park rules. “If it's genuine and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash in the Ramble going forward, then we have no issues with each other," he told CNN.
