Amy Cooper, the woman who called 911 on a Black bird-watcher in New York’s Central Park last year, said on Tuesday that she had no choice but to call the police on Christian Cooper and that she is now terrified to walk her dog.
Cooper claimed last year that she was forced to call 911 and that she felt threatened by Christian Cooper after he asked her to comply with park rules and leash her dog on May 25, 2020. Footage of Cooper telling a 911 dispatcher she was being threatened by a Black man was viewed millions of times.
“I don’t know that as a woman alone in a park that I had another option,” Cooper said on Tuesday’s episode of the “Honestly” podcast.
Cooper faced charges for making false allegations against the bird-watcher after she admitted once officers arrived that he hadn’t harmed her.
A misdemeanor crime of false reporting against Cooper was dropped after she completed an education and therapy program focused on racial equity.
Cooper said Tuesday that she was afraid she was going to be attacked.
“He’s holding these dog treats in one hand and a bike helmet in his other hand, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my God, is this guy going to lure my dog over and try to hit him with his bike helmet?'” she told guest podcaster Kmele Foster. “And if I end up over there, am I going to get hit by this bike helmet?”
The comments differ from Cooper’s previous remarks. After facing backlash in the aftermath of the viral incident, Cooper apologized for her actions and said she overreacted. Her dog was temporarily confiscated after animal rights activists expressed concern over her handling of the canine, although it was later returned to her.
Cooper has filed a lawsuit against investment management company Franklin Templeton, which fired her after the incident. According to Cooper, she was wrongfully terminated her because of her race and gender and characterized her as “racist” without conducting a thorough investigation, which resulted in a loss of earnings and severe emotional distress.
Franklin Templeton has called the lawsuit’s claims as “baseless.”
Cooper said she’s now terrified to walk her dog after last year’s ordeal played out so publicly.
“I’m terrified to take my dog for a walk, because what if someone sees me go into a home and realizes it’s where I live,” she said. “So, sometimes I’ll drive him over to a remote field or something just to play with him.”
Cooper said she has not spoken to Christian Cooper since the incident but explained that she had many questions for him and has spent time thinking about what she would say.
“I have zillion questions of course in my head or things I’d like to say, but the one that really, I really would just like to start and open this conversation with is, ‘You scared me,’” she said. “And really just leave it there and leave it to him to respond back to me as to what he wants to say back to that because I think that opens the door to a conversation.”
Christian Cooper has declined to comment on Cooper’s recent remarks.
