Big Consequences for White Woman Who Called Cops on Black Man

She loses job and, at least temporarily, her dog
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2020 3:30 AM CDT
Updated May 27, 2020 6:33 AM CDT
Latest White Woman to Call Cops on Black Man Loses Job
This image made from Monday, May 25, 2020, video provided by Christian Cooper shows Amy Cooper with her dog calling police at Central Park in New York.   (Christian Cooper via AP)

A day after a white woman called police on a black man who asked her to leash her dog in Central Park, consequences: The woman, Amy Cooper, has been fired. "Following our internal review of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton," the investment firm tweeted Tuesday morning. Cooper had been placed on administrative leave Monday. She apologized after the incident made headlines (the man in question, Christian Cooper, recorded it and posted it on social media) but also told CNN that her "entire life is being destroyed right now." The dog she was walking at the time has since been voluntarily surrendered to the rescue from which she adopted it "while this matter is being addressed," the rescue says, and the president of the Central Park Civic Association has called for her to be banned from the park for life, Insider reports.

Christian Cooper had asked her to leash her dog in the Ramble, a wooded area of the New York City park that is popular with bird-watchers due to the hundreds of species it attracts; dogs in the area are required to be leashed. "That's important to us birders because we know that dogs won't be off leash at all and we can go there to see the ground-dwelling birds," Christian Cooper, a board member of the New York City Audubon Society, tells CNN. The National Audubon Society, which is the leading bird conservation organization in the US, notes, "Black Americans often face terrible daily dangers in outdoor spaces, where they are subjected to unwarranted suspicion, confrontation, and violence." The New York Times notes the incident has sparked discussions of the many false accusations made against black people, sometimes with fatal consequences—but the paper also notes that Christian Cooper says he thinks the degree of "frenzy" surrounding Amy Cooper, who is now "having her life completely torn apart," might be too much. (More Central Park stories.)

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