Woman FIRED from NYC investment firm after calling 911 to report an ‘African-American man threatening her life’

‘Central Park Karen’ was captured on camera calling the police on an African-American man who simply asked her to put a leash on her dog.

Her ignorance got her fired from her senior position at a New York investment firm.

Previously, the 41-year-old accuser Amy Cooper was working as head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton. On Tuesday, May 26th, Cooper was terminated from her job, having been placed on administrative leave a day earlier, as Mail Online reveals.

Franklin Templeton, the company the woman was working for, came to this decision following an internal investigation into the footage. It shows Cooper hysterically calling the cops, claiming the African-American man, who was actually bird-watching at the time, was threatening her life. The incident took place in the wooded area of the park known as The Ramble. The company stated in a tweet:

Following our internal review of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton.

— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) May 26, 2020

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had earlier criticized the woman for being a racist while responding to coverage of the incident. De Blasio tweeted:

The video out of Central Park is racism, plain and simple.

She called the police BECAUSE he was a Black man. Even though she was the one breaking the rules. She decided he was the criminal and we know why.

This kind of hatred has no place in our city. https://t.co/6PP7jIwL1g

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) May 26, 2020

Before the company announced Cooper’s termination, she told CNN she wanted to ‘publicly apologize to everyone’. The Canadian-born woman also insisted she isn’t a racist and didn’t intend to inflict any harm on the African-American community. She said:

“I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way. I think I was just scared. When you’re alone in the Ramble, you don’t know what’s happening. It’s not excusable, it’s not defensible.”

Moreover, Cooper claims the release of the video, where she falsely accuses the man of threatening her life and the life of her dog, has destroyed her entire life.

According to many, this incident represents yet another example of racial prejudice where white people are calling the police on African-Americans for irrelevant reasons. 

The black man, Christian Cooper, who is not related to his accuser, later explained to NBC New York:

“I videotaped it because I thought it was important to document things. We live in an age of Ahmaud Arbery where black men are gunned down because of assumptions people make about black men, black people, and I’m just not going to participate in that. I’m not going to participate in my own dehumanization.”

However, when asked if he would accept the woman’s apology, Christian said that if her words were genuine, and if she plans on keeping her dog on a leash in The Ramble, ‘then we have no issues with each other’.

To CNN, Amy Cooper admitted she knew walking her dog unleashed in The Ramble was against the rules. She claims she got scared because Cristian was ‘screaming’ at her, but the man, a senior biomedical editor at Health Science Communications, says he was actually pretty calm’.

The video of the Central Park encounter was first shared by Christian and his sister. It begins with the woman, nicknamed ‘Central Park Karen’, marching toward Christian’s camera, ordering him to stop recording.

In the Facebook post, Christian claims he alerted the neurotic woman to a sign stating that dogs cannot be walked in The Ramble without a leash as it’s an area that protects wildlife. To this, Amy responded that the dog runs are closed and her pet ‘needs his exercise’.

The birdwatcher replied that all she needed to do was take her dog outside The Ramble, ‘and you can let him run off-leash all you want’. As the woman refused to take her dog elsewhere, Christian told her:

“Look, if you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it.”

The 41-year-old woman claimed she didn’t know what the man meant by that, adding: “When you’re alone in a wooded area, that’s absolutely terrifying, right?”

When Christian called the pooch toward him, while pulling out ‘dog treats I carry for such intransigence’, Amy yelled: ‘DON’T YOU TOUCH MY DOG!’

In the video, the man can be heard saying: ‘Please don’t come close to me’ several times as the woman demands he should stop recording her.

She then warns she would call the cops, but instead of being afraid, Christian asks her to actually do so. To this, Amy responds:

“I’m going to tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.”

Clearly, the man has no problem with Cooper calling the police. As she does so, she tells them that she’s located in The Ramble and ‘an African-American man with a bicycle helmet’ is recording her while threatening her and her dog.

Amy repeats this another time, after which her voice becomes extremely hysterical, as she shouts:

“I’m being threatened by a man in The Ramble, please send the cops immediately…”

At the time, Christian is not even approaching the woman or going towards her. When the call ends, the birdwatcher calmly says: ‘Thank you.’ and stops filming.

The man later shared with NBC:

“If the habitat is destroyed we won’t be able to go there to see the birds, to enjoy the plantings. The only way they can keep the dog from eating the treat is to put it on a leash. At some point, she decided I’m gonna play the race card, I guess.”

On Tuesday, George Conway, the lawyer husband of political adviser Kellyanne Conway, revealed he studied alongside Christian Cooper at Harvard.

Conway tweeted:

So it turns out that I’m a college classmate of the Central Park birdwatcher who videoed the lying racist dogwalker. It’s a small world.

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) May 26, 2020

Additionally, Michael Fischer, president of the Central Park Civic Association, is urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to permanently ban Amy Cooper from the park. As the New York Post reports, Fischer said:

“The Central Park Civic Association condemns this behavior and is calling on Mayor de Blasio to impose a lifetime ban on this lady for her deliberate, racial misleading of law enforcement and violating behavioral guidelines set so that all can enjoy our city’s most famous park.”

Eliza Orlins, a Manhattan DA Candidate, stated she would make sure Christian would not become yet another victim of the criminal justice system that has been criticized for disfavoring black Americans.

This is serious. Happened today in Manhattan. As a public defender for over a decade, I have tried cases where the Manhattan DA uses a "hysterical 911 call" as categorical evidence of guilt. Usually there's no video like this to refute it. (1/4) https://t.co/rvRE8QFT5N

— Eliza Orlins (@elizaorlins) May 25, 2020

In a follow-up tweet thread, the Manhattan DA Candidate states:

“What happens: White lady calls the cops on Black man. Cops believe her. He gets arrested and then arraigned. Outrageous bail gets set. His family cannot afford to buy his freedom. He gets sent to Rikers Island, where he sits for any number of days, months, or years.

Eventually, the case resolves in some way–gets dismissed or he takes a plea to the charge or a lesser offense to get out because he’s threatened with doing serious time. Meanwhile, he’s potentially lost his job, his home, his children. Right now, it is even worse.

People are sitting on Rikers Island on the basis of nothing more than an accusation (like in this video!) with the added risk of contracting COVID-19. So, we can call out these “Karens,” but also we need a Manhattan DA who is committed to real reform. I will be that DA. ” 

Many social media users demanded Amy Cooper should be fired for her unacceptable racist behavior.

Their request was soon met, as the 41-year-old woman was placed on administrative leave hours later. The company she was previously working for as head of insurance investment solutions, Franklin Templeton, stated:

“We take these matters very seriously and we do not condone racism of any kind. While we are in the process of investigating the situation, the employee involved has been put on administrative leave.”

In the disturbing video, Amy’s dog can be seen struggling as she grabs it by the neck, seemingly eager to be free of her restraint. Some of the people who saw the footage contacted Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniel Rescue, in an attempt to free the dog off the woman’s care due to concerns she was choking it. The rescuers responded in a Facebook post:

After the video of Amy Cooper threatening to call the cops on an African-American man emerged, and she was eventually fired, she publicly apologized for her inappropriate actions. The Canadian woman said in a statement:

”I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone, especially to that man, his family. It was unacceptable and I humbly and fully apologize to everyone who’s seen that video, everyone that’s been offended … everyone who thinks of me in a lower light and I understand why they do.
When I think about the police, I’m such a blessed person. I’ve come to realize especially today that I think of [the police] as a protection agency, and unfortunately, this has caused me to realize that there are so many people in this country that don’t have that luxury.”