If you see Amy Cooper trending all over Twitter, this is why. A woman was letting her dog run off-leash in a special area of the Central Park where birds are nesting; seems like there is constant tension between birders and dog owners there. Anyway, a well-known and respected birder (who happens to be black) asked her to put the dog on the leash and she freaked out, called police fake-crying and repeating that an "African-American man has threatened me and my dog," while simultaneously almost strangling her own dog to death (be warned, it may be hard to watch for some). Obviously the biggest implication is that given how often black men are killed by police in America, she was knowingly putting his life in danger.
The birder's sister posted the video, outrage ensued and Twitter quickly ID'd the woman in the video, turns out she's pretty high up the ladder at Franklin Templeton Investments and also that her adopted dog has been involved in several serious accidents, due to not being on a leash – almost drowning in a pool, being bitten by another dog, etc – she was trying to make cutesy posts about it on Instagram.
However, the birder's own description of the encounter (later deleted) makes things seem less clear-cut – seems like he tried to lure her dog with treats for some reason. Which is a dick move, if you ask me, even though it doesn't excuse her entitlement and racism. Anyway, now she is suspended pending investigation and "voluntarily surrendered" the dog back to the charity.
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