Woman Who Called Cops On Black Man Should Be Investigated: Mayor

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The city should investigate whether the white woman who called the police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park committed a crime, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during this Thursday press conference.

De Blasio said he was "appalled" after watching the viral video of Amy Cooper calling the cops on Christian Cooper in Central Park, which has been viewed millions of times on social media platforms. The altercation started when Christian Cooper reminded the woman that dogs must be leashed in Central Park's Ramble — a popular spot among birdwatchers — to protect its wildlife.

Cooper has since been fired from her Wall Street job, surrendered her dog back to an adoption agency and apologized for her actions on national news, but de Blasio indicated Thursday that her actions may be a crime.

"Did she commit an offense by falsely accusing someone? That is the thing to me we need to better ascertain. It was a disgusting incident, and I would say if the current laws cover that appropriately great, if they don’t cover that appropriately then I think the notion of creating a new category would make sense," de Blasio said Thursday.

The mayor made the statement in response to a question from Patch reporter Kathleen Culliton on whether it should be a hate crime to call the police without a valid reason on people of color in New York. Harlem State Senator Brian Benjamin is currently pushing a bill to alter the state's penal code to add falsely reporting a crime to a list of offenses that qualify as hate crimes. Former Brooklyn State Sen. Jesse Hamilton first proposed the legislation in 2018 after he was the victim of a false report.

Police officials have said they are not pursuing charges against Cooper. When officers arrived at the Ramble on Monday both Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper had already left the area.

In a Facebook post, Christian Cooper wrote that he approached Amy Cooper because her dog was "tearing through the plantings" in the ramble. When Cooper declined to leash her dog, Christian Cooper said "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," and began to offer dog treats to Cooper's cocker spaniel.

Christian Cooper told CNN that he keeps dog treats on him because offering them to unleashed dogs usually get their owners to restrain them on the leash. The birder told CNN that he was "actually pretty calm," during his entire interaction with the dog owner.

Video of the ensuing altercation between Christian Cooper and Amy Cooper shows that the bird watcher remained that calm even as the woman called the police on him. At the beginning of the video, Christian Cooper tells Amy not to approach him and says "please call the cops" and "tell them whatever you like" after an initial threat to do so.

"I'm in the Ramble and there's a man — African-American — he has a bicycle helmet. He's recording me and threatening me and my dog," Amy Cooper says after calling the police.