Amy Cooper, the white woman who called the police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park, made a second, previously unreported 911 call in which she falsely claimed the man had ‘tried to assault’ her prosecutors said Wednesday.
The development came during a virtual court hearing for the 41-year-old earlier this morning in which she was arraigned on one count of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree — a charge that carries a sentence of up to one year in jail.
Amy Cooper was filmed hysterically dialing 911 on Harvard-grad Christian Cooper on Memorial Day, falsely claiming an ‘African American man is threatening my life’.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Ms. Cooper made a second 911 call, which was not captured on video, in which she again claimed Christian Cooper threatened her and also told dispatchers that he ‘tried to assault her.’
‘At no time did the man later identified as Christian Cooper try to assault her,’ Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said during the brief hearing. ‘Using the police in a way that was both racially offensive and designed to intimidate is something that can’t be ignored.’
When police arrived, Cooper reportedly admitted there had been no assault, prosecutors said.
The charges against Amy Cooper were announced by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday, nearly five months after she was filmed hysterically dialing 911 on Harvard-grad Christian Cooper (right) on Memorial Day, falsely claiming an ‘African American man is threatening my life’.
Illuzzi-Orbon, the chief of the trial division who previously prosecuted Harvey Weinstein, is personally handling the prosecution of the case.
Amy Cooper’s lawyers are said to be working out a plea with Illuzzi-Orbon to avoid prison time.
Illuzzi-Orbon said Ms. Cooper is prepared to ‘take responsibility for her actions’ through a program designed with the defense to ‘educate her and the community on the harm caused by such actions.’
Prosecutors agreed to adjourn for four weeks while both sides work out the arrangements for such a deal.
The judge agreed to convert the charging instrument from a complaint to an information which indicated Ms. Cooper is prepared to plead guilty when her case returns to court November 17.
Illuzzi-Orbon said said she hopes ‘this process will both enlighten, heal and prevent similar harm to our community in the future.’
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. also released a statement in reference to the charges, pledging to ‘hold people who make false and racist 911 calls accountable.’
‘Amy Cooper engaged in racist criminal conduct when she falsely accused a Black man of trying to assault her in a previously unreported second call with a 911 dispatcher,’ Vance said. ‘Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the police response to Ms. Cooper’s hoax.
‘Our Office will pursue a resolution of this case which holds Ms. Cooper accountable while healing our community, restoring justice, and deterring others from perpetuating this racist practice.’
The DA’s office said the charge stems from a second phone call Ms. Cooper made, which was not captured on video, in which she again claimed Christian Cooper threatened her and also told dispatchers that he ‘tried to assault her’
‘At no time did the man later identified as Christian Cooper try to assault her,’ Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said during the brief hearing. ‘Using the police in a way that was both racially offensive and designed to intimidate is something that can’t be ignored.’
Amy Cooper found herself at the center of a firestorm when footage of her now infamous May 25 confrontation with Christian Cooper went viral.
Within hours, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio branded her a ‘racist’ over the incident and she was later terminated from her $170k-per-year role at as head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton.
Amid the outrage, Ms. Cooper released statement apologizing for her actions, insisting she ‘isn’t a racist’ and said she hoped ‘a few mortifying seconds in a lifetime of 40 years will not define me’ in Christian Cooper’s eyes.
The incident occurred in a remote area of Central Park known as The Ramble, where Christian Cooper, 57, encountered Amy Cooper walking her dog unleashed.
After pointing out to Ms. Cooper that dogs must be leashed in The Ramble at all times to protect wildlife habitats, she quickly became irate, prompting Christian Cooper to start filming her on his cellphone.
In the Ramble Central Park, New York City, dogs must be restrained at all times a sign states
In the footage captured by Christian Cooper, who is of no relation, Amy Cooper is seen marching towards the birdwatcher, demanding he stop filming her.
‘Please don’t come close to me,’ Christian is heard telling Ms. Cooper several times.
When Christian invites her to ‘please call the cops’, she responds, ‘I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.’
Christian responds to the dog owner: ‘Please tell them whatever you like.’
She is then heard saying: ‘I’m in The Ramble and an African-American man with a bicycle helmet, he is recording me and threatening my dog.’
After a brief pause, the video shows her repeating the bogus allegation, ‘There is An African American man. I am in Central Park. He is recording me and threatening myself and my dog.’
She suddenly becomes distraught and cries: ‘I’m being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately.’
After another pause she responds to the operator: ‘I’m in Central Park in the Ramble, I don’t know.’
At that point the woman clips the dog onto a leash and Christian responds: ‘Thank you’ and stops filming.
In the footage captured by Christian Cooper, who is of no relation, Amy Cooper is seen marching towards the birdwatcher, demanding he stop filming her
The incident occurred in a remote area of Central Park known as The Ramble, where Christian Cooper, 57, encountered Amy Cooper walking her dog unleashed
The incident led to Gov. Andrew Cuomo signing in a law that imposes a civil penalty for calling the cops on a black person, or any other member of a ‘protected class,’ when there’s no reason to believe a crime has been committed.
A police investigation was also launched into the incident shortly afterwards, though Christian Cooper refused to cooperate with the probe, believing Ms. Cooper had suffered enough.
‘She’s already paid a steep price,’ he said in a statement at the time. ‘That’s not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on.
‘So if the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges. But he can do that without me.’
Christian, a former editor and writer for Marvel Comics, also publicly accepted Ms. Cooper’s apology in an appearance on The View.
‘I do accept her apology,’ Christian said. ‘I think it’s a first step. I think she’s gotta do some reflection on what happened because up until the moment when she made that statement.
‘It was just a conflict between a birder and a dog walker, and then she took it to a very dark place. I think she’s gotta sort of examine why and how that happened.’
He also urged the he public to stop making threats against Cooper.
‘If you think that what she did was wrong, that she was trying to bring death by cop down on my head, then there is absolutely no way you can justify then turning around and putting a death threat on her head,’ he said.
Cooper explained that he’s also ‘uncomfortable’ with judging Cooper solely on a ‘few seconds…over very poor judgement.’
‘[There’s] no excusing that it was a racist act because it was a racist act,’ he told the show. ‘But [does] that define her entire life? Only she can tell us if that defines her entire life by what she does going forward.’