Charges dropped against former Franklin Templeton exec who called police on Black bird-watcher

Amy Cooper, the former Franklin Templeton executive who was fired last year after accusing a Black bird-watcher in Central Park with threatening her, on Tuesday had a New York judge dismiss the case against her, according to multiple media reports.

Cooper, who is white, had completed a racial education and therapy program, according to the reports.

In July, the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Cooper with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree following a viral video of her calling the police in May on Christian Cooper, a bird-watcher who had asked that Ms. Cooper leash her dog in Central Park, as required by the park’s rules, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Amy Cooper, who isn’t related to Christian Cooper, told the bird-watcher she would call the police and tell them “there’s an African-American man threatening my life,” the Journal and others reported.

The misdemeanor charge of false reporting of a police incident in the third-degree against Cooper was dropped after Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said the defendant had completed court-sanctioned therapy sessions about racial bias, according to Bloomberg News.

In the video, which went viral after the May 25, 2020 incident, Cooper can be seen telephoning police while holding onto her dog and claiming to the 911 dispatcher that Christian Cooper, a Black man in the park bird-watching, was threatening her and her dog, Bloomberg reported. Illuzzi said that Christian Cooper had declined to participate in their prosecution of the case.

Amy Cooper completed a five-session program by the Manhattan Justice Opportunity, a court-alternative program, according to news reports.

“After a thorough and honest inquiry, the New York DA’s office dismissed all charges today,” her lawyer, Robert Barnes, said in a statement on Twitter. “We thank them for their integrity and concur w/the outcome."