Amy Cooper, the white woman filmed in Central Park calling the police and falsely accusing a black man (Christopher Cooper) of threatening her life, has been charged to court in New York, United States.
KanyiDaily had published a video that shows how Amy Cooper was caught on camera calling the police and lying that a black man was attacking her, when he really just asked her to leash her dog in Central Park.
The video of the incident nicknamed “Central Park Karen” by social media users, caused a lot of outrage online due to the fact that her kind of action has led to a high number of killings of black men by police in the US.
Cooper is to be charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said in a statement. She would be arraigned on October 14, 2020.
“Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree,” Mr Vance said.
“Our office will provide the public with additional information as the case proceeds.
“At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reporting to contact our office. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable,” he said.
Filing a false report is a crime punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine or both.
In a statement on Monday, her lawyer Robert Barnes said she would be found not guilty, and said there had been a “rush to judgment” by some about the case.
“She lost her job, her home and her public life. Now some demand her freedom?” Mr Barnes said. How many lives are we going to destroy over misunderstood 60-second videos on social media?”
Amy Cooper, who is an the investment banker, was fired from her job at the assets manager Franklin Templeton and she publicly apologised over the incident.
The incident between Amy Cooper and Christopher occurred a few hours before the death of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis, after a white police officer knelt on his neck, sparking worldwide anti-racism demonstrations.