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Amy Cooper, the white woman deemed "Central Park Karen" after she called the police on a Black birdwatcher, is doubling down on her behavior during the viral incident.
In an essay published by Newsweek on Tuesday (November 7), Amy justified her May 2020 encounter with birdwatcher Christian Cooper, which occurred while she was walking her dog in New York's Central Park.
Amy said she “feared telling my own story” until now because of the “unrelenting, unforgiving weight of cancel culture.” She claimed Christian instigated the incident and said her reaction was driven by “panic and vulnerability.”
“I was a female, alone in a secluded area of Central Park, with a man yelling at me and threatening me,” Amy wrote in the essay. “As a victim of sexual assault in my teens, I was completely panicked for my safety and wellbeing.”
In viral video of the incident, Amy called the police and accused Christian of threatening her and her dog. The woman now claims she contacted authorities because the birdwatcher “taunted me to call the police."
"There were never any racial implications to my words. I just saw raw fear, and I desperately wanted help," Amy wrote.
In light of the incident, Amy lost her job at the investment firm Franklin Templeton. Amy said in Tuesday's essay that she was “forced into hiding” and remains “scared to be in public” to this day.
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