The Manhattan district attorney charged Amy Cooper this week for allegedly filing a false police report after a video of her from May went viral online that allegedly showed her calling the police on a man, Christian Cooper, no relation, after an interaction that the two had.
The video sparked outrage online because Amy Cooper, who is white, told Christian Cooper, who is black, that she was going to claim that an “African-American man” was threatening her, which many said was proof of racism.
“Today our Office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree,” the district attorney said in a statement. “Our office will provide the public with additional information as the case proceeds. At this time I would like to encourage anyone who has been the target of false reporting to contact our Office. We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable.”
The New York Times reported that Christian Cooper does not support the charges that were brought against Amy Cooper, and that he will not cooperate with the case against her.
“On the one hand, she’s already paid a steep price,” Christian Cooper said in a statement, according to the Times. “That’s not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on.”
The Times reported that Christian Cooper reportedly said that he understood there could be a greater principle at stake, but indicated that he would not be a part of the case against Amy Cooper.
“So if the DA feels the need to pursue charges, he should pursue charges,” Cooper said. “But he can do that without me.”
We spent so much time focussed on the Southern “Bubba threat” that we missed the sinister college educated, pathological “Karen threat” quietly sabotaging black thriving every step of the way. Imagine liberal #AmyCooper reviewing job applications/as a CEO. pic.twitter.com/Jqz4R3sTfT
— Anthony B. Bradley (@drantbradley) June 13, 2020
Attorney Josie Duffy Rice also advocated for not charging Cooper in the case in a lengthy Twitter thread that went viral.
“We don’t have to charge Amy Cooper, and we shouldn’t charge Amy Cooper,” Rice wrote. “Charging her is the easy solution. It’s the easy way out. And it reinforces the idea that justice can only be found in the disastrous carceral system we’ve created.”
Charging her is the easy solution. It’s the easy way out. And it reinforces the idea that justice can only be found in the disastrous carceral system we’ve created.
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020
“It’s very hard to sit with the idea that someone like amy cooper shouldn’t be charged because we are constantly constantly convinced that this is the system through which justice is done. but I urge you to sit with it,” Rice continued. “Ask yourself what criminal charges can do to amy cooper that hasn’t already been done. has she not faced consequences? she did something absolutely horrible and she lost her job, her dog, her personal business was on the front page of the paper, we all know her face & her story.”
ask yourself what criminal charges can do to amy cooper that hasn't already been done. has she not faced consequences? she did something absolutely horrible and she lost her job, her dog, her personal business was on the front page of the paper, we all know her face & her story
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020
“This is not unreasonable! as a white woman she tried to weaponize the system against a black man the best way she knows how. but the question for you is: why do you think she has to be indicted, or arrested, or serve time to REALLY face consequences? what are consequences to you?” Rice continued. “Sit with it, my loves. sit with it. I know it doesn’t feel good. I know it doesn’t feel like justice. but our most inherent feelings about ‘what feels like justice’ have been shaped, molded, corrupted by a criminal justice system we still have a lot of trouble shaking.”
sit with it, my loves. sit with it. I know it doesn't feel good. I know it doesn't feel like justice. but our most inherent feelings about "what feels like justice" have been shaped, molded, corrupted by a criminal justice system we still have a lot of trouble shaking.
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020