NEW YORK CITY – Prosecutors in New York City filed new charges Wednesday against a white woman who was seen on video earlier this year calling police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said Amy Cooper will face another count of third-degree falsely reporting an incident connected to the May 25 encounter with birdwatcher Christian Cooper. Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper are not related.
“The defendant twice reported that an African American man was putting her in danger, first by stating that he was threatening her and her dog, then making a second call indicating that he tried to assault her in the Ramble area of the park,” Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said Wednesday at an arraignment for Amy Cooper, according to The New York Times and The Associated Press.
The case was adjourned until Nov. 17 to allow prosecutors and her lawyer to work on a possible resolution that Illuzzi said could see Cooper participating in a program to educate her and the community “on the harm caused by such actions.”
Authorities charged Amy Cooper in July after she called 911 to report that Christian Cooper was threatening her life. Video shot by Christian Cooper showed he had commented about her dog being unleashed in an area of Central Park known as the Ramble. Dogs are supposed to be leashed in the area.
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In the video, Amy Cooper can be heard threatening to call police and “tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life” although no such altercation occurred.
Authorities said that after that call, she called 911 again to report that Christian Cooper had “tried to assault her.” In a statement released Wednesday, Vance said she “engaged in racist criminal conduct.”
“Fortunately, no one was injured or killed in the police response to Ms. Cooper’s hoax,” he said.
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Under New York law, a person can face a charge of third-degree falsely reporting an incident if he or she is suspected of reporting or circulating information known to be false under circumstances “in which it is not unlikely that public alarm or inconvenience will result.”
Amy Cooper later apologized for the situation, telling CNN that she is not racist and “did not mean to harm that man in any way.”
In the furor that erupted nationwide after the incident, Amy Cooper lost her job at investment company Franklin Templeton and briefly lost custody of her dog.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In this May 25, 2020 file photo, made from video provided by Christian Cooper, Amy Cooper talks with Christian Cooper in Central Park in New York.