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Reuters

A white woman who called police and falsely accused an African-American man of threatening her life after he asked her to leash her dog in New York’s Central Park is being criminally charged over the incident, Manhattan’s district attorney said on Monday.
Amy Cooper, 41, whose actions on May 25 were recorded on a video that went viral and touched off discussions about “white privilege”, is being charged with filing a false report, a Class A misdemeanour punishable by up to one year in jail.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said Cooper is expected to be arraigned on October 14.
“We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable,” Vance said in a statement.


Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
 — Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020

A lawyer for Cooper could not immediately be identified.
The incident stirred widespread conversations about racism and how white people treat black people.
It occurred a few hours before George Floyd died in Minneapolis after a police officer there pinned his neck.
Cooper had been walking her dog in an area of Central Park known as the Ramble when she encountered Christian Cooper, a black man and avid birdwatcher.
Photos show smiling police re-enacting chokehold after death of black man
Christian Cooper, who is not related to Amy Cooper, said in a now-deleted Facebook post that he asked her to leash her dog, and when she refused, he told her she “would not like” what he would do next and offered the dog treats.
The video showed Amy Cooper telling him she would tell the police an African-American man was threatening her life, which was false, and then calling emergency services, where she used “African-American” to describe Cooper.
Amy Cooper was fired from her job at Franklin Templeton a day after the incident, when she also publicly apologised.



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White woman Amy Cooper,  charged with making false report for calling police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper

A screen grab from a viral video of the confrontation between Amy Cooper and birdwatcher Christian Cooper in New York's Central Park. Photo: Christian Cooper via Twitter

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White woman Amy Cooper fired after calling police on black man who told her to leash dog in New York’s Central Park

A screen grab from a viral video of the confrontation between Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper in New York's Central Park. Photo: Christian Cooper via Twitter

A Facebook post by Christian Cooper, the black man threatened with the police by white woman Amy Cooper, tells his side of the story. Photo: Facebook

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Viet Hoai Tran supporting a Black Lives Matter protest in Washington. Photo: AFP

This handout photo provided by the Hennepin County Jail and received by AFP on June 3, 2020 shows Tou Thao booking photos face and profile. - Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on the neck of George Floyd, a black man who later died, will now be charged with second-degree murder, and his three colleagues will also face charges, court documents revealed on June 3. The May 25 death of George Floyd -- who had been accused of trying to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit bill -- has ignited protests across the United States over systemic racism and police brutality. (Photo by Handout / Hennepin County Jail / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Hennepin County Jail " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

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Video of incident, which took place hours before George Floyd’s death, went viral and sparked widespread discussions about racism
Cooper had falsely claimed an ‘African-American man’ was threatening her life after being told to leash her dog in New York’s Central Park



Amy Cooper’s actions in New York’s Central Park were caught on viral video, sparking widespread discussions about racism.


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