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‘Central Park Karen’: I Had No Choice but to Call Cops on Black Birdwatcher

Amy Coooper said she’s now “terrified” to take her dog for a walk.

The “Central Park Karen,” speaking publicly for the first time in a year, said she had no other option but to call the cops on a Black birdwatcher who was not menacing her, though she told police he was “threatening my life.” Discussing the infamous May 2020 incident on former New York Times writer and editor Bari Weiss’ podcast, Amy Cooper, who is white, said Christian Cooper offered her dog treats while holding a bike helmet. “I’m trying to figure out, you know, what does that mean? Is that a physical attack on me? Is that to my dog? Like, what is he about to do?... I don’t know that as a woman alone in a park that I had another option.” Amy Cooper was originally charged with making a false report to police, but the charges were dropped after she attended therapy sessions. She added, “It’s really weird because he’s still standing there, you know, same very physical posture, and suddenly out of him comes this voice from [a] man who’s been very dominant towards me. Suddenly, you know, almost this victimized voicing… Like, almost like he’s terrified of me… To me that’s even more terrifying now because you’ve gone from screaming at me—if you kept screaming at me, at least it was consistent, but now his whole verbal demeanor has changed.” Amy Cooper said she is now “terrified to take my dog for a walk, because what if someone sees me go into a home and realizes it’s where I live.” She filed a discrimination suit against her employer, the investment firm Franklin Templeton, which fired her over the incident, in May 2021.