Criminal Law
Charges Dropped Against a White Woman Who Reported a Black Bird-Watcher to Police
The criminal case against a white woman recorded on video calling police to claim that a Black bird-watcher was threatening her in New York City’s Central Park was dropped Tuesday.
Prosecutors in Manhattan Supreme Court, the main trial court, announced that they were no longer pursuing a misdemeanor charge against the woman, Amy Cooper, who was accused of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.
She completed five “psychoeducation and therapy” sessions that helped her “appreciate that racial identities shape our lives” and that “we cannot use them to harm ourselves or others,” Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said.
“Ms. Cooper’s therapist reported that it was a moving experience and that Ms. Cooper learned a lot in their sessions together,” Illuzzi said. “Having completed the restorative justice program to our satisfaction, we now move to dismiss.”
