NPR reports:
A black man says he asked a white woman in Central Park to put her dog on a leash. Then, video shows her calling police and telling emergency operators that the man was threatening her and her dog. The woman, who has been identified as Amy Cooper, has apologized.
“It was unacceptable. And you know words are just words and I can’t undo what I did. But I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone. Especially to that man, his family,” Amy Cooper said in an interview with NBC New York on Monday evening.
But by Tuesday afternoon she was fired from her job at an investment management firm. The Ramble is a wooded area of Central Park where dogs are required to be leashed.
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.
— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) May 26, 2020
Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020