The white woman who became the poster child for white privilege when she called 911 on a black birdwatcher in New York’s Central Park has been charged with filing a false report. But the internet wants more punishment.
Amy Cooper, the former insurance investment manager turned social media scapegoat for systemic racism, has been charged with “falsely reporting an incident in the third degree,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced in a statement on Monday. Vance also encouraged others who’d been the “target of false reporting” to contact his office.
Cooper, dubbed “Central Park Karen” on social media, lost her job and (briefly) her dog after video of her calling 911 on black birder Christian Cooper (no relation) and claiming he was threatening her life went viral in May. No threats were apparent in the video, and the male Cooper claimed he’d merely told her to put her dog on a leash as mandated by law in that area of Central Park and deployed treats he carried to lure dogs away from noncompliant owners.
The white woman’s misfortunes might have ended there, jobless and reviled by the internet as the embodiment of the dreaded “Karen” archetype. However, the video went viral the same day white police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed kneeling on the neck of black security guard George Floyd for eight minutes in Minneapolis, kicking off months of protests and riots that have forced race into the center of the national discussion. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo capitalized on the Central Park incident, adding a measure criminalizing “false, race-based 911 reports” to a package of tepid police reforms he signed into law last month – all but guaranteeing Cooper would face legal repercussions for her itchy dialing fingers.
Lawyer Robert Barnes announced he would be representing Cooper, promising she would be found not guilty and excoriating “cancerous #CancelCulture.”
I get this question a lot for many of my clients, as they cross the ideological & economic spectrum, and almost always are the underdog in their case. I represent #AmyCooper b/c I am deeply concerned about the direction & legal system weaponization of cancerous #CancelCulturehttps://t.co/4tQ0NCe7Bh
— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) July 6, 2020
Many on social media were pleased that justice was being served.
#AmyCooper faces charges for calling in fake threatGood. Hopefully all the "Karen's" out there will be charged every time they weaponize the police when thy feel like it. https://t.co/ohmo3XIzWo
— Stone (@stonecold2050) July 6, 2020
Good. People should think twice about reporting false crimes and endangering people's lives.
— Dawnmarie