A white woman in Manhattan who falsely claimed a Black man was threatening her in Central Park made a second 911 call and lied that he “tried to assault” her, a prosecutor alleged on Wednesday.
Amy Cooper, appearing in court for an arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting an incident, made two 911 calls about the May confrontation, including one that previously hadn’t been reported, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said in Manhattan criminal court.
Cooper was widely scorned after she was caught on video telling Christian Cooper (no relation) that she would call the cops after he asked her to leash her dog in the park. Christian Cooper was bird-watching at the time.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” Cooper threatened in the video before she called 911. Once on the phone, she falsely claimed she was being threatened.
“I’m in the Ramble and there is a man ― African American, he has a bicycle helmet ― he is recording me and threatening me and my dog,” Cooper can be heard saying.
The existence of a second 911 call was disclosed for the first time on Wednesday. In that call, Cooper reported a Black man “tried to assault her in the Ramble area of the park,” the prosecutor said.
The NYPD was called to the area and determined there was a verbal dispute and no crime committed. Cooper admitted to officers that the man neither tried to assault her nor came in contact with her, the D.A. said.
After video on the incident went viral, Cooper was fired from her job. She was charged in July and is negotiating a deal that would allow her to avoid jail, according to The New York Times.
“As alleged in the complaint, 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 911 dispatcher,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr.’s office said in a statement on Wednesday disclosing the second call.
After the video of the incident went viral, Cooper apologized on NBC News, saying that her behavior was “unacceptable” and that she overreacted.