An angry white woman who called 911 to report that “an African American … is threatening me and my dog” has apologized for her actions after asking her to put her dog on the leash.
Amy Cooper told Media that she was overreacting, but the man who asked her to put her puppy on a leash said she was yelling.
“I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone, especially that person, and his family,” she told Media. “This is unacceptable and I apologize to everyone who has seen the video and to everyone who is offended. … Everyone who thinks of me in a low light and understands why they are doing so.”
“I realize today that I think of [the police] as a defense agency, and unfortunately, I realize that a lot of people in this country don’t have that luxury,” she told Media.
But she later played a victim on CNN, claiming that, due to this episode, she was “ruining her whole life right now.”
Amy Cooper was placed on administrative leave by investment firm Franklin Templeton after the video was released.
“I’m not a racist. I don’t want to harm the man in any way, ”she said.
Critics have accused Christian Cooper of filing a false report, but NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker, who called the video “disturbing,” told WPIX 11 Tuesday that the department was not looking to charge a dog owner.
Also Read: Texas Department of Criminal Justice First Muslim Chaplain passes away from COVID-19
“We’re not going to keep it up,” Tucker said. “We have big fish to fry and the DA will never investigate it.
“It’s hard to understand why she did it,” he continued. “The fact that she’s called the breed is disturbing. She’s got a dog, the dog must be pushing the dog and she remembers it as a problem.”
Christian Cooper recorded the encounter with Amy Cooper on her cellphone at 8 am on Monday morning after she was asked to lie down with her dog.
The video has been viewed more than 21 million times since Christian Cooper’s sister posted it on Twitter.
“My brother & I are very grateful for your concern,” Melody Cooper tweeted late Monday. “He was fine and left her dog to continue birding after the run, as he had politely requested. I wanted to know what had happened to keep her from happening again. All she had to do was put her poor dog on the leash.”
Christian Cooper told CNN that he videotaped the dog owner because he wanted to document the exchange.
“Unfortunately we live in an era like Ahmed Arbari where black people are targeted,” he told the network. “This woman felt it could be exploited to her advantage, and I didn’t have it.”
He said he would accept the apology, “if it’s true and if she plans to move her dog on the ramble.”
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens) said he was Christian Cooper, an activist, known for decades and was shocked by the video.
“She says so much to African American!” Said the councilman. “Racism kills black people.”
