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Amy Cooper, the woman who came to be known as the "Central Park Karen," revealed her version of the events on May 25, 2020, in an exclusive with Newsweek published on November 7, 2023.
She had called the police against a bird watcher named Christian Cooper, saying, "I’m gonna tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” which was later interpreted by New York magazine as “intentionally weaponizing a system of police brutality” against black males.
Disclaimer: This article may contain mentions of cyberbullying and mentions of s*xual assault.
Amy expressed in the new opinion piece how she had received graphic hate mail and online threats from strangers who told her that she "deserves to be r*ped in prison" or to slit her wrists and kill herself. This led her to stay in hiding for three years, as per The New York Post.
"Over three years later, I am still in hiding. I am scared to be in public. I still can’t get a job that meets my qualifications. And there have been long stretches of unemployment. All leading to thoughts of self-harm," she said.
The piece also mentioned how Christian Cooper had allegedly threatened her first and tried to lure her dog toward him with treats. A black man named Jeremy Lockett had also stated to the media outlets, a day after the incident, that he knew Christian had reportedly done the same thing to two of his other friends. All of the alleged evidence has since resurfaced.
Amy Cooper's exclusive: "I was branded the 'Central Park Karen'. I still live in hiding"
Amy Cooper was dubbed the "Central Park Karen" in 2020 after a video went viral of when she encountered an "African American man" while walking her dog in a secluded part of Central Park, the Ramble. She recalled the event in an exclusive with Newsweek.
The said video was posted on the same day that George Floyd was unjustly killed by police in Minneapolis. It led to Amy Cooper getting fired from her job as an insurance portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, as per HuffPost. Amy told Newsweek that she was walking her dog "during the hours when dogs were allowed off-leash."
"Seconds later, I heard a voice boom: 'Get out of here. You shouldn't be here.' I saw a man who began yelling at me that my dog should be on his leash," she said.
According to her version of events, Christian Cooper had yelled:
"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."
He allegedly said this seconds before he started recording Amy. She told Good Morning America three years ago:
"I was a female, alone in a secluded area of Central Park, with a man yelling at me and threatening me. As a victim of a s*xual assault in my late teens, I was completely panicked for my safety and wellbeing."
As in the GMA video, both Christian and Amy Cooper have said that he had dog treats in his pockets. Amy Cooper added that Christian "who did not own a dog, bizarrely tried to lure my dog to him with treats, immediately raising a red flag. News stories of poisoned dogs quickly came to mind," as per The New York Post.
Christian had admitted in the news outlet that he had heard "this woman shouting a dog's name. Sure signs that the dog was off-leash."
As per Newsweek, Amy mentioned a statement from Jerome Lockett about Christian "also aggressively threatening him, luring in his dog." He had described the incident to media outlets, but no one picked the story up, according to Amy Cooper.
"He knows of two fellow dog owners who experienced the same behavior from Christian, but they don't want to come forward because they are white, and Christian is Black. They fear being canceled—as I have been," she added.
Lockett's statement has also resurfaced along with the GMA interview. Amy Cooper added on the Newsweek exclusive about the alleged evidence:
"None of this was reported. Stark omissions in coverage completely altered my life. And there is no correcting after the fact. I, and others affected by this incident, could only live in the false, hateful narrative."
In July 2022, Amy Cooper was charged with falsely reporting an incident, which led her to lose her job. The case was tossed after she attended therapy sessions on racial bias.
She also sued her ex-employer for wrongful termination, a case which she ultimately lost. Amy said that she "don't know if I did everything right in that park, but I know I didn't do everything wrong," and revealed that she had tried to contact Christian Cooper but he had not gotten back to her.
Christian Cooper, however, has since appeared on many media outlets and shows including CBS, GMA, and Nat Geo Wild, and has a published memoir titled: Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World, which was published in 2023.
