ICYMI yesterday, there was a viral “Karen” video flying around last night posted by Melody Cooper that shows an exchange between her brother, who is black, and a white woman who calls the police to say she’s being threatened by an African-American male after an argument over her dog being off the leash in a part of Central Park that doesn’t allow it.
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
The “Karen,” later identified as Amy Cooper, was put on leave by her employer:
In response to an incident involving an employee on May 25th, Franklin Templeton issued the following statement. pic.twitter.com/8f2lMwK0r5
— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) May 26, 2020
Take a bow, mob:
Angry Twitter users took down the website of an investment company with $700 billion on assets because people think one of its employees was that lady behaving horrendously in Central Park
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) May 26, 2020
But in a Facebook post allegedly from the guy filming, Christian Cooper, he admitted to threatening the woman before he started filming: “Look, if you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it”:
If I was woman alone in the park with my dog and a random man starts getting in my business unprovoked and then tells me
“If you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want”
And then tried to lure my dog away from me
… I might have called the cops too pic.twitter.com/pQX34Bj0SG
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) May 26, 2020
According to Amy Cooper, she thought Christian Cooper was going to poison her dog:
Amy Cooper’s “apology.” Among other things, she seems to imply she was concerned Christian Cooper, the man in the video, was going to poison her dog, Henry. https://t.co/zgWpjfVBbJ
— April (@ReignOfApril) May 26, 2020
Which appears to have been Christian’s motivation. He told NBC News he offers the treats to the dogs so the people put them back on the leash:
“If the habitat is destroyed we won’t be able to go there to see the birds, to enjoy the plantings,” Christian explained on Monday night. When Amy refused, he says he offered her dog a treat and started recording the incident.
“The only way they can keep the dog from eating the treat is to put it on a leash,” he said. “At some point, she decided I’m gonna play the race card, I guess.”
Can we hate both of them?
For those confused about the Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper saga this is the Reader's Digest version.
Two elitist, liberal douches met in a park …
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) May 26, 2020
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member