The Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper Altercation

Amy Cooper was walking her dog Monday morning while Christian Cooper (no relation) was bird-watching at a wooded area of Central Park called the Ramble. They both claimed that their dispute began because her dog was not on a leash, contrary to the Ramble's rules, according to the park's website. Christian Cooper recorded a 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 silent while she frantically tells police he is threatening her and her dog. Amy Cooper is heard saying in the video, "I'm taking a picture and calling the cops," "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life." As the video spread around the internet, Amy Cooper said she wanted to "publicly apologize to everyone.” “It was unacceptable. You know and words are just words and I can’t undo what I did, but I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone.”

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Although we could post the video here, we won’t. This type of oppression has been occurring for years, however we are only beginning to notice it because of our increased access to cameras. We need to get into the habit of believing black people.

Credits

Brittainy Newman/The New York Times