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.
Retired gay dude with nothing much on his schedule except to try to get video of people in Central Park who offend his birder sensibilities. I would love to know how many times this puke has taken video of people in Central Park without their consent.
I guess you didn’t read the statements by the Audubon Society I furnished.
In response to an incident in Central Park’s Ramble that went viral on Twitter, the National Audubon Society issued the following statement:
“Black Americans often face terrible daily dangers in outdoor spaces, where they are subjected to unwarranted suspicion, confrontation, and violence,” said Audubon SVP for State Programs Rebeccah Sanders, who is white.
“The outdoors – and the joy of birds – should be safe and welcoming for all people. That’s the reality Audubon and our partners are working hard to achieve. We unequivocally condemn racist sentiments, behavior, and systems that undermine the humanity, rights, and freedom of Black people.
We are grateful Christian Cooper is safe. He takes great delight in sharing New York City’s birds with others and serves as a board member of the New York City Audubon Society, where he promotes conservation of New York City’s outdoor spaces and inclusion of all people.”
From the American Birding Society
The ABA wrote on Twitter: “The American Birding Association is saddened by the situation documented by Christian Cooper in the Central Park ramble on May 25, 2020. We believe that all birders should be able to participate in their hobby free of harassment and bigotry, and we acknowledge that this is frequently not the case for birders of color. We urge all birders to learn from this — to defend fellow birders when they can and to call out bigotry when they see it. Inclusion and equity are core ABA values; fear and intimidation should never be part of birding culture. Access to outdoor spaces without fear must be a right for all who seek to enjoy and protect wild birds.”
So what do YOU say is not false?
She got herself fired. He was under no obligation to shelter her from the consequences of her actions. Her own stupidity hoisted her on the petard.
Dog lovers will defend her and attack him (and FReepers on his side).
Karen could have just held the leash handle and walked away, but instead got hysterical, and hurt the poor dog, choking it while she was drama queening on her phone to the cops.
There have been Dog Lover vs. non-Dog Lover wars on FR before.
I am not joking at your expense. I’m not joking at all. I am responding to what you wrote, perhaps more emphatically because of comments by others in the thread. Your comments are offensive and without foundation. Just like the entitled manipulative Canadian you seek to defend, your spurious attacks were noted. Good day to you & I hope we may better agree in future.
“He probably usually masturbates over the video he gets.”
“This is this guy’s “schtick”. He carries around dog treats and is practiced at videoing what he wants of an encounter he can arrange. He carries binoculars as an excuse for stalking white women. He doesn’t record his own threatening behavior.”
Geranimo
He was angry that the dog was going to disturb the pink-crested kneeling knob-gobblers...
dennisw
Screw the birdwatcher and the cream puff he rode in on!
I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it”
Sounds just like here in California but not only with dogs but cars road rage happen just about every day it’s a MEME state.
Really, what was the reason to ascribing gender to “him” at all? Seems pretty sexist there as well.
I am replying to your responses to me, not re-stroking this thread continuously.
Your response is typical of the pile-on that has occurred. I guess race-baiting is close enough to dog-treat-baiting for these people to find common cause.
So, the Left’s new mantra is “Believe All Videos”, and women go under the bus.
I’m not buying it. This guy is a wack-o and he ruined this woman’s life with a crappy video, and I guess you support that. I don’t.
That’s a new concept to me, stroking the thread. Sometimes it is important to know when you have said what was useful & stop responding. I do have trouble walking away sometimes.
We have both expressed ourselves. We don’t agree but we may better agree another day. I’m glad we are ending courteously.
I think you are mixing up responses. It happens, though we try to minimize it.
The actions and behavior of this man need to be looked at.
Video can be, and often is, one-sided.
The woman’s life has been destroyed, not his, and this is entirely due to his actions.
I am not Canadian, but I am over 55 years old and have lived all around the US. I have seen enough of life to know that people often push a good thing too far. He may have started with wanting to watch birds without being bothered by loose dogs. But he carried it too far. He ended up stalking people in the park with a camera and a bag of dog treats.
I am not Canadian and I am in my late 60’s.
Before I started writing on this topic at all I did an internet search and read ~5 articles and looked at the people.
Nothing but good to find on Cooper(male) a bit of a geek, probably gay, has an excellent work & educational background, interest in birding decades long, active as an officer well spoke of at Marvel Comics by co-workers, at the Audubon Society.
Cooper(ms)
Amy Cooper who called police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper on Monday in the now infamous viral video, filed her lawsuit against Martin Priest in 2015. But it’s a “false” claim they were lovers, Priest told the Daily News Wednesday. Priest said Amy developed a “fascination” with him when they worked together at Lehman Brothers and filed her lawsuit against him in 2015 with “fabricated” claims.
“I never had a romantic relationship with her, period. She purposely engineered false allegations against me. And she made up allegations targeting my family’s physical safety,” Priest told The News.
Priest claimed the asset manager developed romantic feelings for him and began “stalking” and “harassing” him when those feelings went unrequited, leading him to report her to the police twice, once in New Jersey and once in New York City. The Post confirmed that reports were made in both jurisdictions. “The longer I avoided her, the angrier she got,” Priest alleged.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/28/amy-cooper-once-slammed-friend-for-voting-for-obama/
NYPD is looking at charging her for a false call.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/29/nypd-discussing-charges-for-central-park-karen-amy-cooper-with-da/
When a viral video of a white woman calling cops on a black man “threatening” her in Central Park swept across social media Monday, two New York City dog walkers immediately recognized the main players in the racially charged altercation — the woman, and her pooch.
Lindsey Cork, 31, and Kyle Stover, 30, knew her identity: Amy Cooper, of the Upper West Side. But would giving it up be the right thing to do?
Stover, who used to walk Cooper’s dog, Henry, and saw the video first, reached out to Cork, who had also walked Henry in the past. Together, they made a decision.
“She helped me realize that we kind of need to call people out on these actions and speak out about this to show that New York does not stand for this kind of action,” Stover told the New York Daily News Tuesday.
“We’ve seen so many videos of people being shot or killed for less, and that’s terrifying, and like she either doesn’t understand the weight of her actions or words or she does, both of which are terrible,” he said.
“When you look at a black person in a situation like that and say, ‘I’m going to call the police and tell them a black man is threatening me,’ at the end of the day, the message is, ‘You’re inconveniencing me or upsetting me, so I’m going to put your life at risk,’ ” she said.
oh please.
Eric Garner brought his situation on himself, and it was tragic, and she is flatly wrong.
The Arbery issue is a very muddled mess, and akin to what the left *claimed* happened in the Zimmerman case.
The woman acted hysterically. There was no reason to call the police. She was totally wrong. She deserves some kind of penalty for calling the police needlessly. But to have her life ruined for this? fired, branded racist and lost the dog!
There’s a reason for the biblical limit of 7 times damages.
Oh please. Unless he was pointing a firearm at her, there is no plausible off-camera excuse for her behavior. She is shown openly pre-meditating a false claim of a felony.
The stress of the fight he started triggered a fatal heart attack. His death was entirely his own fault.
Entirely? At some point he was restrained, but struggling because he couldn’t breathe. The police should have recognized that.
Yes, he kept *saying* he couldn’t breathe. He kept speaking. He died while being fully able to breathe on the ambulance, because he had a heart attack from the exertion and stress.
The man has been more than open. In fact, he even said that he thought that her actions were being blown up and that he did not think she should have been fired.
She’s a crazy dog lady, walking her dog where she shouldn’t have been, who went ballistic when asked to leash it. As I mentioned elsewhere, offering a treat is a sure-fire way to get a dog owner to grab and leash their dog voluntarily and it usually defuses the issue.
The cops used to give people citations for having their dogs in this and other areas, or having them off leash in general, but I’ve noticed that they’ve stopped, probably because they’re scared of having a confrontation with these privileged Upper West Side witches. They know the women won’t hesitate to claim police brutality or something if they receive a ticket and are forced to put poochy back on leash.
It’s the FReepers who seem most obsessed by race here and it’s not pretty.
He reached into his pockets and pulled out dog treats after threatening to poison her dog.
Nah. She'll be forgotten in six months. New "outrages" will pop up, and she'll eventually fade into relative obscurity. I mean, she'll be known as "that woman" for a few years, but the heat of immediate attention will move on.
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