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.
That bitch got what she deserved. All she had to do was to call her pooch and put the leash on him.
She overreacted and he's an ass.
Agreed. I used to let my previous dog run free - she was far more obedient than my current rascal. however, if someone said “this is not a place to set them free - that’s the rules” I’d apologize and move on.
Off hand, based on available information, I’d say this is a genuine case of true racism. Coming from where else? A lefty woman in lefty paradise.
My wife bird watches. It’s really fun to see the different birds and some of the beautiful color combinations. She’s always pointing them out. And as for unleashed dogs, two came into our yard a few months back and started to destroy property, including a screen door when they tried to get in. From that perspective, it’s easy to take the birdwatcher’s side in this case. He was bothering no one, but the dog was.
I’m glad this leftist bitch lost her job. I hope the birdwatcher sues her.
The last time The Rambles was in the news, it was for gay sex.
“...this is a genuine case of true racism. Coming from where else? A lefty woman in lefty paradise.”
Lefty women are loony, pure and simple. They demonstrate that publicly, over and over and over and over...
Absolutely.
I saw one person write that this is what happens when Karen’s meet in the park. Passive-aggressive on steroids.
I’ve learned not to react with my first strong instinct when hassled. When I am at my best, I grit my teeth, smile and apologize. Because I am a child of Jesus.
Of course, for the next hour or so I relive the incident in my mind, telling myself what I SHOULD have told the idiot.
Leash Police Officer, C. Cooper, who was in no way threatened or in any danger, decided to punish a Leash Violator by threatening to poison her dog, and then starting to feed her dog. He could have called the police and reported her, but he decided to use the threat of violence.
Leash Police Officer, C. Cooper, knowing that he was about to permanently destroy the life of a person who was reacting to his threat of poisoning her dog, then proceeded to destroy her life to teach her a lesson about disobeying his Leash Police Authoritay.
And then the Leash Police Officer and poison-threatener basked in the glow of destroying a person’s life over a trivial, meaningless incident, from which he could have walked away before it even began, to no one’s harm.
And millions upon millions of outraged Leash Police Officers unleashed their inner stone thrower, because destroying the life of a person who committed and trivial and meaningless offense is so satisfying.
Yes, she epitomizes Karen.
Have you been snooping around inside my brain again? Either that, or we’re all more alike than we would care to admit.
This is his technique for getting owners to leash their dogs. He said he has found that if he offers the dog a treat, the owner will be desperate to prevent the dog from eating it and will run over and voluntarily leash the dog, thus ending the confrontation. I thought it was a great idea.
I don’t know if you have ever had to try to get one of these privileged witches to leash their dog, either because it was threatening to attack you or somebody else, or because it was in a place where it was doing damage (a Playground sandbox, a nature preserve, etc.) but I have, since I walk a lot in the park, and it’s not fun. I thought he handled it pretty well.
Btw, he’s on the board of the local Audubon Society and protecting a designated birdwatching site is certainly his duty.
Were you inside his head during the event? Knew he was threatening poisoned treats? Knew he wanted to ruin Karen’s life? You assume a LOT, FRiend.
I’LL make an assumption here: You are a “dog lover” and disliked another dog lover’s behavior being rightfully confronted. Am I correct?
She was in violation of a park rule. She merely had to leash the beast and move along; there would have been NO incident. Karen created the incident, start to finish. Karen also hurt her dog.
Ms. Charen is lying.
More information could change the picture, but to best information so far:
Eric Garner violently attacked the police, when they arrested him for a minor crime which he was repeatedly committing. The stress of the fight he started triggered a fatal heart attack. His death was entirely his own fault.
Ahmaud Arbery had gone past the McMichaels, turned, charged them, punched one, and tried to wrestle his shotgun away from him. This was all recorded. Punching people and taking their stuff are crimes, unless there is a positive reason for them. So far, no one has found any such reason. Arbery was violent criminal. Attacking two men with guns, when you are unarmed (until he was wrestling for McMichael’s gun, at which point both are considered armed, I’m told), is nuts, besides being criminal. To best information so far, Arbery was the only wrongdoer here, and his death was his own fault.
Mr. Cooper had, in fact, threatened both Ms. Cooper and her dog. For her to report to the police that she was being threatened, was exactly correct. Describing a black man as a black man, when reporting something to the police, was the right thing to do. The police should get descriptions when you’re reporting something to them, to help an officer identify the people involved, when he arrives. Both Coopers were in the wrong: She for allowing her dog to run without a leash, he for threatening her. But calling the police, and reporting the threat, was not wrong. Ms. Charen wrote “There was zero reason to tell the dispatcher that the man was African American.” Ms. Charen was not just wrong, her claim is stupid. Descriptions are appropriate when complaining of threats.
Of this list, only George Floyd was wronged. He attacked the police, and was in the wrong, but nothing he did remotely justified them strangling and killing him. But there is still zero evidence of racism here. If I knew that the police would not do that to a white man who attacked them, there would be, but I don’t know that. To claim racism here is an unjustified speculation. It’s a reasonable speculation, but to claim it is proven, when there is no evidence for it, is lying.
Ms. Charen overall thesis is a condemnation of white racism—which, so far, exists entirely in her own head. The incidents she cites as examples, do not show any such thing.
The black gay birder is out hassling white women. He is the real racist who started this racial incident. Retired btw, with too much time on his hands, so he becomes the premier nuisance of central park
F him he ruined this woman’s life when he uploaded the video that got 6 million hits. This made his fame shoot into the stratosphere for the black twitter mobs.
He's an ass for saying "you're not going to like what I will do next" which can be perceived as a threat and for posting the video on you tube."
Ahmaud Arbery......agree with you on this incident. Trying to grab a shotgun from an armed man is crazy.
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!
In the current political climate, anything a White does that interacts with a non-White is going to be called racist. There are going to be thousands of Whites sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, with their lives ruined.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.