Posted on 05/29/2020 4:54:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
A lifelong bird-watcher ventured into a section of New York's Central Park, the "Ramble," at 7:30 a.m., hoping to catch a glimpse of waterfowl. In previous days, he had spied scarlet tanagers, ovenbirds and mourning warblers. On Memorial Day, as he waited quietly, an unleashed spaniel scurried into the area -- as happens frequently in the park during quarantine -- though a posted sign notifies owners that all dogs must be leashed.
The bird-watcher asked the owner to please leash her dog. She was less than cooperative. According to the birder, Christian Cooper, the conversation went like this: "ME: Ma'am, dogs in the Ramble have to be on the leash at all times. The sign is right there. HER: The dog runs are closed. He needs his exercise." After more refusals from her to leash the pet, he said, "Look, 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" and reached for dog treats that he keeps for such situations. Alarmed, she yelled, "Don't you touch my dog!"
That's when Mr. Cooper began to record the encounter. The dog owner, whose name, coincidentally, is Amy Cooper, demanded that he stop recording her, and when he refused, threatened to call the police. "Please call the police," Mr. Cooper responded. Dialing her phone, she warned Cooper, saying, "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."
Wait, it gets worse. She reaches the police and twice recounts that she is in the Ramble and that "an African American man" is threatening her and her dog. Apparently dissatisfied by the response this gets from the dispatcher, she ramps up the panic in her voice and cries: "I'm being threatened by a man in the Ramble. Please send the cops immediately!"
The poor cocker spaniel, all this while, was struggling and twisting and being forced to rise to his hind legs as Ms. Cooper kept an iron grip on his collar.
Since the release of the video, Amy Cooper has been fired by Franklin Templeton where she had been an insurance portfolio manager, lost her dog to the rescue group from whom she adopted him, and become an overnight symbol of racism.
Frankly, I had heard about the consequences before I watched the video and my anti-vigilante antennae were quivering. But the video is jaw-dropping.
It's possible that Ms. Cooper was overwrought because she misinterpreted Mr. Cooper's comment that "you're not going to like" what he would do next. But he reached into his pocket and produced what? A gun? A knife? No. Dog treats. Maybe her imagination ran wild and she feared that he was planning to poison the pooch. But even if that's the case, she could have picked up her dog and gone home. Instead, she played upon racial stereotypes of "scary black men" to make a false claim to police and, it's safe to assume, to intimidate him. He merely asked her to respect the park rules. There was zero reason to call the police. There was zero reason to tell the dispatcher that the man was African American.
As someone who has written about false accusations of racism (though I've never denied that racism is real), these cellphone videos are grim reminders that old-fashioned white racism continues to have deadly consequences. Eric Garner. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis this week after an officer held him down with a knee on his neck. They and others are evidence of what actor Will Smith said in 2016: "Racism isn't getting worse. It's getting filmed." (The four officers who were involved in Floyd's case have been fired and the FBI is investigating.)
Amy Cooper told CNN that her "entire life" is being destroyed by this. She has apologized and claimed not to be a racist. Does anyone ever admit to racism? I think even David Duke claims that he's merely standing up for white people.
Still, Amy Cooper can salvage some grace from this awful fall from it. She can start by confessing that, yes, she is a racist, and vowing to change. She can volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America or the Success Academy or some other organization that works to make life better for African American kids. She can study up on the history of slavery and Jim Crow. And she can send a check to the ASPCA while she's at it. She understandably feels that her life is being "destroyed," but if she handles this right, it could be vastly improved. She could become a symbol of redemption instead of sin.
The jury will note that a 'camera' was not in evidence. The odds greatly favor a PHONE being used.
Also note that no STALKING has been presented as evidence; either.
That's when Mr. Cooper began to record the encounter. The dog owner, whose name, coincidentally, is Amy Cooper, demanded that he stop recording her,
On Memorial Day, as he waited quietly, an unleashed spaniel scurried into the area -- as happens frequently in the park during quarantine -- though a posted sign notifies owners that all dogs must be leashed.
Oh?
Based on what?
Uh; WHAT 'purpose'??
Fact #1 - This is a controlled space; set aside for birds.
Fact #2 - Dogs are known for chasing things: they are hunters.
Fact #3 - Dogs can be stopped in their chasing instinct by getting their attention by having a treat offered.
Fact #4 - Dogs love attention. And they know they can get a treat even from a drive-up teller window.
The bird-watcher asked the owner to please leash her dog. She was less than cooperative.
According to the birder, Christian Cooper, the conversation went like this:
"ME: Ma'am, dogs in the Ramble have to be on the leash at all times. The sign is right there.
HER: The dog runs are closed. He needs his exercise."
After more refusals from her to leash the pet, he said, "Look, 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" and reached for dog treats that he keeps for such situations.
Alarmed, she yelled, "Don't you touch my dog!"
The whole LOT of them!!
...and reached for dog treats that he keeps ...
Oh; if Amy hasn’t gotten another job yet, she might check over on the set of...
“The Real Housewives of New York City”
So who is in the right and the wrong here?
All true!
That is EXACTLY the point. C Cooper was intimating that he was going to poison the dog, and A Cooper understood exactly what the threat was. That is why C Cooper pulled dog treats from his pocket.
Then he proceeded to absolutely destroy her life for the offense of not leashing her dog, and getting frightened when a large black man in a very isolated area threatened to poison her dog as punishment for not leashing her dog.
And millions of self-righteous virtue signalers stepped up to cast further stones for this trivial, meaningless offense, making sure she will never recover.
Reply to: “I have posted a lot of information & links in the thread as have several others. Your assessment ignores that she only had to put on the lead or walk away. Not much of a threat. IMO no threat at all.”
- - - - -
If all she had to do to escape the threat was to put the dog on a lead, or walk away, she was still being threatened. That. Was. A. Crime. To report to the police that she was being threatened, was perfectly legitimate.
There were no “good guys” here, but that action was proper.
Do you have a link to the medical examiner’s report? I haven’t seen that.
I would say so
No. I am going by what the news reports said. Also, in the video it doesn’t look like he was fighting when he was saying “I can’t breathe.” I guess the fact that he could say it meant that he could breathe, but it was a sign that something serious was going on with him, and the police could have acknowledged it.
I based that on the work he had done for the comics and his membership in the Gay/Lesbian Alliance.
Chris Cooper served as co-chair of the board of directors of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in the late ’80s, at a time when GLAAD was still a grass-roots, New York-based group organizing protest rallies against anti-gay violence, actions against the New York Post for its homophobic coverage, and television appearances to correct misleading programming about LGBT lives. His career as a writer and editor carried him to Marvel Comics, where he was assistant editor of the comic book that brought Marvel’s first superhero out of the closet, and the creator of Marvel’s first lesbian central character. He went on to create and write the Internet’s late, lamented LGBT superhero epic QUEER NATION: THE ONLINE GAY COMIC.
http://gayusatv.org/chris-cooper/
The survivor of a racist incident in Central Park, whose viral video of a white woman calling the cops on him has sparked national outrage, is also a pivotal figure in the history of queer representation in comics. A former editor at Marvel Comics, Christian Cooper helped give life to Yoshi Mishima, the first openly homosexual character in the Star Trek universe, PinkNews reports.
https://www.them.us/story/survivor-racist-central-park-incident-pioneer-queer-representation
Christian Cooper is a writer, and editor based in New York City. He has worked for Marvel Comics as a writer and an editor, writing Marvel comics Presents Stories, the Darkhold series for over a year, a run on Excalibur and edited a number of X-Men collections. In Star Trek fandom he is also notable for writing the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy comic for a few years, co-creating the first openly gay Star Trek character, Yoshi Mishima. Cooper is currently a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marvel-comics-christian-cooper-in-central-park-racial-confrontation/
Aside from being an avid birdwatcher, Cooper also happens to be a trailblazing queer comic writer. As a former editor for Marvel, he is known as a pioneer in the comic world for creating the character Yoshi Mishima, the first gay male character in a Star Trek comic and the first gay human ever within the Star Trek universe. With Yoshi, Cooper explored themes of discrimination, obviously something he’s no stranger to in his own life. He also has written stories for Ghost Rider and Vengeance comics.
https://www.out.com/news/2020/5/26/man-center-viral-park-video-made-gay-star-trek-history
Did you even watch the video? There is your evidence that she charged him.
Or what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Good point since the 'laws' were made by men and apt to change by them as well.
Alarmed, she yelled, "Don't you touch my dog!"Golly!That's when Mr. Cooper began to record the encounter. The dog owner, whose name, coincidentally, is Amy Cooper, demanded that he stop recording her…
The evidence shows she was MORE worried about having her actions and words RECORDED; than she was the dog 'being poisoned' at this point!
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