The perils of being black in America don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
According to CBSN New York, on Monday, a white woman in New York City called the police department and made an alleged false complaint, saying a black man was “threatening me and my dog” after the man asked her to leash her dog.
The man, Chris Cooper, who is an avid bird watcher, asked the woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), to put a leash on her dog. The two of them were in a section of Central Park named The Rambles, which has clearly visible signs stating that dogs must be leashed in that particular area.
After making the request, the female Cooper, Amy, then decides to argue with the male Cooper, Chris. She proceeded to approach him, as she drags her dog by the collar and says, “I’m gonna tell them that an African American is threatening my life.” Luckily, Chris’s sister, Melody also filmed the confrontation.
Amy then says, “I’m sorry, I’m in The Ramble, and there’s a man—an African-American with a bicycle helmet —he is recording me, and threatening me and my dog.”
The police said when they arrived at the scene, neither party was there, so it led to no arrests. But, the mayor had something to say. Mayor de Blasio called it “racism, plain and simple.”
Amy Cooper told CNN “I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way.” She added, “[My] entire life is being destroyed right now.”
Even City Councilman Mark Levine weighed in.
After the video was posted and gained traction, her employer, Franklin Templeton, took to Twitter and issued the following statement: “We take these matters very seriously, and we do not condone racism of any kind,” read the statement. “While we are in the process of investigating the situation, the employee involved has been put on administrative leave.”