This image made from Monday, May 25, 2020, video provided by Christian Cooper shows Amy Cooper with her dog talking to Christian Cooper at Central Park in New York. A video of a verbal dispute between Amy Cooper, walking her dog off a leash and Christian Cooper, a black man bird watching in Central Park, is sparking accusations of racism. (Christian Cooper via AP)
A white woman walking her dog who called the police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false report.
In May, Amy Cooper drew widespread condemnation for calling 911 to report she was being threatened by "an African-American man" when bird watcher Christian Cooper appeared to keep his distance as he recorded her rant on his phone.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement on Monday that his office had charged Amy Cooper with falsely reporting the confrontation, a misdemeanor. She was ordered to appear in court on Oct. 14.
After the backlash, Amy Cooper released an apology through a public relations service, saying she "reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions."
"He had every right to request that I leash my dog in an area where it was required," she said in the written statement. "I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause and would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred with Chris."
An unusual late-summer storm turned the week-long Burning Man fest into a sloppy mess, with tens of thousands stuck in foot-deep mud and with no working toilets.
Two spinoffs of “The Walking Dead” and “Interview With the Vampire” will resume production despite the actors' strikes after reaching an agreement with the union.
Ohio authorities on Friday released bodycam video showing a police officer fatally shooting Ta’Kiya Young in her car in what her family denounced as a “gross misuse of power and authority” against the pregnant Black mother.
Police officers in Virginia showed their support for a five-year-old who lost her mother in the line of duty and accompanied her to her first day of school.
