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The case against the woman who called police claiming an “African-American man” was threatening her in a New York City park has hit a wall.
The victim in the case, who was birdwatching at the time of the incident and videotaped Amy Cooper’s call to the police, is reportedly not cooperating with prosecutors.
Christian Cooper, who is not related to the woman, feels she has been through enough and the criminal charge filed against her by the Manhattan district attorney on Monday would only add to her “misery,” The New York Times reported.
The Harvard-educated science editor, who decided not to cooperate with prosecutors after Amy Cooper was charged with filing a false police report against him, had told CBS News last month that the 41-year-old white woman “pulled the pin on the race grenade” when she called the police on him.
Birdwatcher says woman in park who called cops on him ‘pulled the pin on the race grenade’ https://t.co/DTkMk8dYPr
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) June 10, 2020
Cooper had asked the woman to leash her dog that Memorial Day weekend when they crossed paths in an area of the park where posted signs indicated the same. When he asked her not to approach him, Amy Cooper called 911, telling the dispatcher: “There is an African American man, I am in Central Park, he is recording me and threatening myself and my dog.”
She was slammed as the Central Park “Karen” after the video recorded by the birdwatcher was released and went viral. She was fired from her job at investment firm Franklin Templeton and had her dog taken away. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned her actions at the time as “racism, plain and simple.”
Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., announced on Monday that Cooper would be charged with falsely reporting the incident in her call to police. The misdemeanor has a maximum penalty of one year in prison and Cooper was directed to appear in court on Oct. 14.
But Christian Cooper believes she has been punished enough.
“On the one hand, she’s already paid a steep price,” the 57-year-old said in a statement on Tuesday.
“That’s not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on,” he added. “So if the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges. But he can do that without me.”
And while some feel the woman should be held accountable by the criminal justice system for her actions, community leaders and those advocating for an overhaul of the system disagree.
BET host and Temple University Professor, Marc Lamont Hill, tweeted that the issue was a “struggle” for him and called to “resist the urge for retributive approaches.”
I have no sympathy for Amy Cooper, but I do want us to wrestle with what it means for us to continue to seek justice through courts, police, and prisons. As an abolitionist, it’s a real struggle for me.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) July 6, 2020
We also have to consider that these retributive approaches will not largely impact the powerful. Who will be most likely criminalized if we intensify prosecutions for filing false police reports? Not the Amy Coopers of the world.
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) July 6, 2020
Journalist and lawyer Josie Duffy Rice believes pursuing charges against Cooper will just legitimize the criminal justice system.
We don’t have to charge Amy Cooper, and we shouldn’t charge Amy Cooper
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020
“Charging her is the easy solution. It’s the easy way out. And it reinforces the idea that justice can only be found in the disastrous carceral system we’ve created,” she tweeted.
ask yourself what criminal charges can do to amy cooper that hasn’t already been done. has she not faced consequences? she did something absolutely horrible and she lost her job, her dog, her personal business was on the front page of the paper, we all know her face & her story
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020
New York City’s Democrat mayor was happy with the charges being filed, tweeting out “Good.”
“Her racist behavior could have had dire consequences for a Black man,” he added. “Glad she’ll face consequences of her own.”
Many other Twitter users weighed in on Christian Cooper’s decision to not be “piling on” the woman who called police on him.
Hate begets hate. Forgiving sets one free. It doesn’t matter how the other party would’ve behaved. Christian Cooper is a wise man!
— MKaur (@ManmanthanKaur) July 8, 2020
That’s amazing. What a remarkable man he is. And I can’t believe I’m saying this but I agree.
— 𝓓𝓪𝓑𝓾𝓷𝓷𝔂𝓼𝓜𝓸𝓶 (@DaBunnysMom) July 8, 2020
Giving far more grace than he received.
— Culley Scarborough (@CulleyScarboro1) July 8, 2020
EXACTLY…and you know there will be & have been other victims in similar situations. I agree, that if he feels the need to forgive and forget, he can do that during the sentencing phrase.
Seriously doubt if she’ll do any jail time.— Pamela Adams (@MissJohnakin) July 8, 2020
He is a better person than me. I would have cooperated, and watched her squirm.
— Richard Peña (@DickiePena) July 8, 2020
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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