Amy Cooper Hit With 2nd Charge Of False 911 Call On Black Birder

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The white woman whose attempt to call police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park set off a nationwide firestorm in May was hit with a second criminal charge on Wednesday for a previously unreported second 911 call, prosecutors announced.

Amy Cooper, 41, was charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a misdemeanor, for calling 911 and telling a dispatcher that a Black man was trying to assault her, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.

Cooper was previously charged in June for the same offense, stemming from an initial 911 call captured in a viral video shot by the man, Christian Cooper (no relation), in which she told a dispatcher that he had threatened her after asking her to leash her dog in the Central Park Ramble.

According to a criminal complaint, Cooper told a 911 dispatcher around 8:17 a.m. on May 25 that a Black man, later identified as Christian Cooper, had "tried to assault her" and had taken treats out in an attempt to lure her dog over to him.

Police responded "very quickly" to Cooper's call, but after being questioned, she admitted that Christian Cooper had never tried to assault her, prosecutors said.

"I asked the defendant if the man tried to assault or touch her in any way, and she said no," NYPD officer Francisco Tejada, who met Cooper at a park exit within minutes of her 911 call, told prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that they chose to charge Cooper because "using the police in a way that was both racially offensive and designed to intimidate is something that cannot be ignored."

"Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the police response to Ms. Cooper’s hoax," Vance said in a statement.

Vance's office added that they are planning to design an educational program for Cooper, intended to force her to take responsibility for her actions and educate her on the harm that can be caused by making a false police report.

"We hope that this process will enlighten, heal, and prevent similar harm to our community in the future," Vance's office said.

Cooper is next due in court on Nov. 17.

Video triggered national outrage

Video footage of the Memorial Day incident was shared widely after being posted to Facebook by Christian Cooper's sister. In the video, the birdwatcher remains calm as Amy Cooper frantically tells police that she is in danger.

At the beginning of the video, Christian Cooper asks Amy Cooper not to approach him and says, "please call the cops" and "tell them whatever you like" after her initial threat to do so.

"I'm in the Ramble and there's a man — African-American — he has a bicycle helmet. He's recording me and threatening me and my dog," Cooper can be heard telling a dispatcher. "I'm being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately," she continues in a distressed voice.

Amy Cooper faced a swift cultural backlash for her actions, with observers arguing that she was attempting to inflict violence on Christian Cooper by summoning police to search for him. Cooper later lost her high-powered investment job despite issuing a public apology on national news.

Christian Cooper, for his part, has expressed ambivalence about efforts to charge Amy Cooper, writing in a Washington Post op-ed that he would not aid the prosecution, which he said "lets white people off the hook" for broader issues of systemic racism.

The incident set off a national conversation about the role of police and the enduring presence of racism, which only grew more urgent after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, hours after Amy Cooper's 911 call.

Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.

Previous coverage from Patch:

• Woman Who Called Cops On Black Birder May Be Arrested: NYPD Chief
• Black Birdwatcher Police Call Inspires Bias Bill
• Dog Returned To Woman Who Called Cops On Black Birdwatcher