The woman who called the police on a black man in Central Park after a dispute about her unleashed dog has been fired from her job.
"Following our internal review of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton,"
The woman in question has apologized for calling the police on a black man who was bird-watching in Central Park after the two argued about her unleashed dog.
Amy Cooper wants to "publicly apologize to everyone."
"I'm not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way," she said.
Cooper was walking her dog Monday morning while Christian Cooper was bird-watching at a wooded area of Central Park called the Ramble. Their dispute began because her dog was not on a leash, contrary to the Ramble's rules. Christian Cooper recorded part of their encounter and posted it on Facebook, where it has since been shared thousands of times and became a trending topic on Twitter.
In the video, he is largely silent while she frantically tells police he is threatening her and her dog.
"I'm taking a picture and calling the cops," Amy Cooper is heard saying in the video. "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life."
The incident is another example of white people calling the police on African Americans for mundane things. The New York Police Department officers responded, but neither Christian Cooper nor Amy Cooper was present. No arrests or summonses were made.
"I videotaped it because I thought it was important to document things," Christian Cooper said. "Unfortunately we live in an era with things like Ahmaud Arbery, where black men are seen as targets. This woman thought she could exploit that to her advantage, and I wasn't having it."
Photos by Getty Images