Christian Cooper, whose video of a woman calling the police on him while he was birdwatching went viral over the US Memorial Day weekend, acknowledged the woman’s apology but said her act was “definitely racist.”
Amy Cooper was walking her dog on Monday morning while Christian Cooper – no relation – was bird-watching at a wooded area of Central Park called the Ramble.
Mr Cooper recorded video of part of their encounter and posted it on Facebook, where it has since been shared thousands of times and became a trending topic on Twitter.
In the video, he is largely silent while she frantically tells police he is threatening her and her dog.
“I’m taking a picture and calling the cops,” Ms Cooper is heard saying in the video.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.”
In comments to CNN as the video spread widely, Ms Cooper said she wanted to “publicly apologise to everyone”.
“I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way,” she said, adding that she also didn’t mean any harm to the African American community.
“I think her apology is sincere,” Cooper told CNN.
“I’m not sure that in that apology she recognises that while she may not be or consider herself a racist, that particular act was definitely racist.”
“And the fact that that was her recourse at that moment – granted, it was a stressful situation, a sudden situation – you know, maybe a moment of spectacularly poor judgment. But she went there and had this racist act that she did.”
The incident has since meant that Ms Cooper has been fired from her job.
“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 company said on Twitter.
Cooper says he recognises she has also probably received a significant number of messages, like he has, but urged those reaching out to remain civil.
“I am told there has been death threats and that is wholly inappropriate and abhorrent and should stop immediately,” he said.
“I find it strange that people who were upset that … that she tried to bring death by cop down on my head, would then turn around and try to put death threats on her head. Where is the logic in that?” he said.
“Where does that make any kind of sense?”
The New York Police Department told CNN when officers responded neither Mr Cooper nor Ms Cooper was present. No arrests or summonses were made, according to the NYPD.
“I videotaped it because I thought it was important to document things,” Mr Cooper said.
“Unfortunately we live in an era with things like Ahmaud Arbery, where black men are seen as targets. This woman thought she could exploit that to her advantage, and I wasn’t having it.”
What led up to the video
Mr Cooper, who described himself as an avid bird-watcher, was out birding between 7.30am and 8am on Monday in the Ramble, a section of Central Park full of winding paths and thick greenery that attracts over 230 bird species.
That’s when he says he saw a dog off its leash.
“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,” Mr Cooper said.
“People spend a lot of money and time planting in those areas as well. Nothing grows in a dog run for a reason.”
Ms Cooper told CNN she was walking her unleashed dog, knowing that it was against the rules.
“He was running in an open field. This man, he was bird-watching. He came out of the bush,” she said, adding that Mr Cooper was screaming at her.
Mr Cooper said the dog was “tearing through the plantings,” and he told Ms Cooper the dog needed to be on a leash.
He said he was not screaming at Mr Cooper, and “was actually pretty calm”.
The two went back-and-forth about the dog leash. Mr Cooper, according to his Facebook post, then told her: “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.”
“I didn’t know what that meant. When you’re alone in a wooded area, that’s absolutely terrifying, right?” Ms Cooper said.
Mr Cooper said he then pulled out dog treats.
He told CNN he keeps dog treats with him to get dog owners to put their dogs on leashes because, in his experience, dog owners hate when a stranger feeds their dog treats and immediately restrain their dogs afterward.
Ms Cooper said he was throwing them at her dog. Mr Cooper said he never threw any treats.
And that’s when he started recording the incident, he said on Facebook.
What happened in the video
The video begins with Ms Cooper pulling her dog by the collar and telling Mr Cooper to stop recording.
“Please don’t come close to me,” Mr Cooper says, as she approaches.
“Sir, I’m asking you to stop recording me,” Ms Cooper says.
He asks her again not to come close. That’s when Ms Cooper says she’s going to call the police.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” she says.
“Please tell them whatever you like,” Mr Cooper says.
The video shows Ms Cooper on her phone.
“There’s a man, African American, he has a bicycle helmet,” she says.
“He is recording me and threatening me and my dog.”
While she’s on the phone, her dog appears to be straining and trying to get free while she tries to restrain it.
“I’m being threatened by a man in the Ramble,” she continues in an audibly distraught voice . “Please send the cops immediately!”
The video ends with Mr Cooper saying “Thank you”.
The aftermath
Ms Cooper told CNN that since the video was posted, her “entire life is being destroyed right now”.
“I think I was just scared,” she said.
“When you’re alone in the Ramble, you don’t know what’s happening. It’s not excusable, it’s not defensible.”
She was placed on administrative leave and fired by her employer on Tuesday.
Asked if he’d accept her apology, Mr Cooper told CNN he would “if it’s genuine and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash in the Ramble going forward, then we have no issues with each other”.
The National Audubon Society, the country’s leading bird conservation organisation, said they were grateful that Mr Cooper, a board member of the New York City Audubon Society, is safe.
“Black Americans often face terrible daily dangers in outdoor spaces, where they are subjected to unwarranted suspicion, confrontation, and violence,” said Rebeccah Sanders, Audubon senior vice president for state programs. “The outdoors – and the joy of birds – should be safe and welcoming for all people.”
Ms Cooper’s dog has been surrendered to the shelter he was adopted from years earlier while the dispute is addressed, according to a Facebook post from Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue Inc.
“The dog is now in our rescue’s care and he is safe and in good health,” the post said.
Source: 9News
