‘BIT OF A FRENZY’

Black Birdwatcher ‘Uncomfortable’ With Backlash Against White Woman Who Called Cops

“If our goal is to change the underlying factors, I am not sure that this young woman having her life completely torn apart serves that goal.”

Christian Cooper, the black birdwatcher who filmed a viral clip Monday morning of a white dog owner in Central Park calling the cops on him, told The New York Times on Tuesday that he’s “uncomfortable” with the “frenzy” that’s descended on her. Amy Cooper, the woman who made the call and is not related to Christian Cooper, told police that there was “an African-American man threatening [her] life” after he asked her to leash her dog. Christian Cooper filmed the incident, and the clip went viral. She complained of her “entire life being destroyed” and apologized during a CNN interview after she was fired from investment firm Franklin Templeton over the incident. Christian Cooper told the Times, “It’s a little bit of a frenzy, and I am uncomfortable with that. If our goal is to change the underlying factors, I am not sure that this young woman having her life completely torn apart serves that goal.”