Investment firm suspends woman over video of her calling the police on a black man who asked her to
Source: Business Insider
By Sinéad Baker
A global investment firm has suspended a woman after a video circulated of her calling the police on a man who had asked her to put her dog on a leash.
The video showed Amy Cooper, who is white, approaching a man later identified as Christian Cooper, who is black, and threatening to call the police. (It is a coincidence that the two have the same surname.)
She asked him to stop filming her and said she would call the police to report an "African American man threatening my life," which she then did. The police responded but ultimately took no action.
The video started a firestorm on social media, which led Amy Cooper to apologize in a statement to NBC New York. She was also suspended from her job.
Link to tweet
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/investment-firm-suspends-central-park-woman-rang-nypd-black-man-2020-5
FULL titls: Investment firm suspends woman over video of her calling the police on a black man who asked her to put her dog on a leash
The company is Franklin Templeton Investments.
Aristus
(66,316 posts)Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Im not of the opinion that being an asshole is a life ruining offense. Cancel culture and doxxing run amok fueled by click hungry media outlets.
jrthin
(4,835 posts)the police showed up, this man would have been arrested and all the problems of being a black man arrested (money for lawyers, record, defending one's self against the word of a white woman) would have ensued. No, she is not a victim.
Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)This guy could have very well been shot by the police.
George II
(67,782 posts)....disagree with me on that) he could have been shot before they asked any questions.
lostnfound
(16,171 posts)Better than Minneapolis.
George II
(67,782 posts)....it has nothing to do with Minneapolis.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)There was no video when the police showed up.
Both of them had left by the time police showed up, and the police took no further action.
Jesus.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Not that much sympathy for a white woman accusing a black man of a crime he did not commit.
jrthin
(4,835 posts)A white woman's word will, generally, always be believed over a black man.
SKKY
(11,803 posts)...but you're right. And I wish you weren't.
Me.
(35,454 posts)she endangered a black man by calling the police on him and saying he threatened her life. That's ok by you? Do you not know how many black people have died for less. And, there's a reason leashes are required in that area because it's an important area for birds and dogs have a tendency to go after them
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)This was the first time I noticed that he thanked her when she finally leashed the dog.
Thats all she needed to do. Follow the rules. Instead she decided to endanger another persons life.
Unacceptable. She deserves what happens, because she caused it.
Me.
(35,454 posts)I wonder how she treated the poor little creature in private. Thankfully the dog has been surrendered to the same rescue who gave the dog to her a couple of years ago.
As to the other aspect of this situation, how many times will the police be called on innocent black people...and some people wonder why the black community worries.
FoxNewsSucks
(10,429 posts)she was pretending to be in mortal fear. She knew exactly how that would sound to the dispatcher, and what the arriving cops would be expecting to find. She faked it, and that also undermines genuine calls from people legitimately being threatened.
She deserves what she's getting.
Also for the fact that while she was faking mortal fear, she was choking her dog the whole time.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)It appeared to me that she was fearful, rightly or wrongly. He was filming her. Are we supposed to tell her she isn't supposed to be afraid. I thought we weren't supposed to tell people how they should feel in a given situation? Do we know this woman's history? If she was black and the filmer white, would it be OK to for us to tell her how she should feel? Or comment that she was "faking"?
This is a disgusting thread on a supposedly liberal site.
Neema
(1,151 posts)She could have cost him his life. The man asked her to leash her dog, as per the rules, and she decided to call the cops on him. People who know this man say he is polite and well-known because he enjoys birding in that area and nothing about what I've read about him would suggest he would have been threatening in any way...OTHER than to someone automatically afraid of black men.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)Im suggesting some reason. It appeared that she got upset when he started filming her. We dont know her history, and I dont think an opinion of the reasonableness of her reaction is possible based on what we see here. Its particularly disturbing how many people are raising pitchforks here.
womanofthehills
(8,696 posts)Like Trump, she is unable to take the slightest criticism - taking everything personally. How dare he tell me what to do?? Who talks like that when they know they are being filmed? And dog abuse on top of it. Probably not the first time she choked her dog.
tblue37
(65,319 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)And that's the worse problem - this irrational fear that some whites have is the main problem with moving forward with true equality. It's an ugly legacy from the white flight of the 60s that hasn't been corrected in culture.
George II
(67,782 posts)....saying dogs MUST be on a leash and she blamed the whole thing on "an African American man who is threatening my life"!
I lived a few hundred yards from there when I was younger, EVERYONE knows that dogs must be kept on a leash. Period.
Only one person was wrong throughout that incident. It was that woman.
MaryMagdaline
(6,853 posts)Ill take the social media take down vs death of one more black man
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)It was called shaming or shunning. Unfortunately, we have gotten away from that, and nasty people get away with things all the time. This one did not. No sympathy for her. None.
Since racists feel emboldened now and have lost all sense of shame, its time to bring it back with social shaming
RobinA
(9,888 posts)So is there a list of the Allowed to be Shamed and the Not Allowed to be Shamed? Because generally the shaming heads in the direction of anybody a number of people don't approve of. Either there is shaming or there is not. If you want to bring back shaming, be prepared to have your own oxen gored.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)It has already come back, in case you have not noticed. We just do not have enough of it.
The best defense THESE DAYS against nasty people in public is recording them and then putting it out there for the entire world to see. Let their family, friends, peers, employers, etc.. judge their behavior IN PUBLIC.
There is no excuse, NONE, for this woman's behavior. Any attempt to justify it, is unjustifiable.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)that it is coming back. One of the many results of this being Trump's America.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Is part of Trump's America?
RobinA
(9,888 posts)on those who don't act the way you think they should act is part of Trump's America. I thought that's what we were talking about. Better be careful what you wish for. Being OK with public shaming is going back aways to a world I thought we were trying to put behind us.
Kashkakat v.2.0
(1,752 posts)precise language. Public shaming is as old as human culture. ... for better or worse. It's what primates do, enforce the social norms.
MaryMagdaline
(6,853 posts)Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Use character assassination for an alternative.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)gang up on an outsider in their midst. Older than human culture. Is this now to be considered a good thing?
RobinA
(9,888 posts)we live in. I have a real problem with people's work jumping into the fray. Especially when workers in at will states have no recourse.
AllyCat
(16,177 posts)Nothing was going to happen to her. Nothing. All she had to do was smile and nod, put the dog on the leash or not, but her complete freak-out here over being approached by a black man asking her to obey the law...yeah, that there is some racism. She would not have done this if the person asking her to do this was white. She would not have done this if she was obeying the law. And this man would have been in jail or dead had there been no video.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Sounds like she should get the death penalty for all the bad shit that couldve happened but didnt.
If she committed a crime thats what the judicial system is for. Not trial by media/social/media where the accused are always guilty and have zero defense.
AllyCat
(16,177 posts)were not the ones in Minneapolis yesterday who choked a black man with their knees until he died.
She should not get the death penalty. But that was bordering on attempted murder. Not for a white person...but certainly for a black man. They don't get a judicial system like the rest of us.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The video didn't have anything to do with it. They both left the scene.
3Hotdogs
(12,370 posts)Do you know what swatting is? What she did was the same as swatting. People have died from swatting.
tblue37
(65,319 posts)MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)Sorry, but the Trump excuse doesn't work anywhere.
Neema
(1,151 posts)And she knew that calling the cops and saying she was threatened by a black man could have that outcome. All because he asked her to leash her dog in an area where they are required to be leashed. I'm grateful he was filming and I'm grateful she was outed. I hope she faces charges.
MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)Blasphemer
(3,261 posts)People are flawed and everyone suffers from internalized racism. Often there are opportunities to call people in and engage in discourse that is helpful for all involved. However, when actions escalate to the point of making false accusations to the police, there should be consequences - social and otherwise. I think deterrence is important here. It doesn't mean that there should not also be opportunities for change and growth. That's what the criminal justice system is supposed to be about - punishment AND rehabilitation.
raccoon
(31,110 posts)Devil Child
(2,728 posts)raccoon
(31,110 posts)reACTIONary
(5,770 posts)... isn't the end of the world. This is her just desert IMHO.
Chrysanthemum
(188 posts)I think she was fired because the video showed her committing a crime. Making a false report to the police is a crime. In addition, she was also obviously racist. She specified "an African American man" threatened her, not "a man threatened her." She knew what she was doing.
I absolutely agree with you. Her just desserts, indeed.
Bengus81
(6,931 posts)She made it sound like he was about to shoot or knife her. Fuck it....she deserves a certain amount of her life destroyed. Also making BS phony 911 calls is a CRIME--hence the "I'm being threatened" oh...and add in an **GASP** African American just for more drama. Also it was her approaching him.
I'm up to my head sick of this hatred shit fueled by that sick POS in the WH. Hope she gets a big ass fine and gets fired.
Response to Devil Child (Reply #2)
geralmar This message was self-deleted by its author.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)...then she is not going to be replacing that income anytime soon. She'll fall behind in rent and will be evicted from her home once those sorts of things are resumed. Absent any kind of support network, she may end up homeless and unemployable, to face society's contempt until she eventually drops dead somewhere.
Pretty stiff penalty.
jrthin
(4,835 posts)had there been no video.
AllyCat
(16,177 posts)RobinA
(9,888 posts)keep saying something would have happened to him but for this video? She got fired because she was white and flipped out when a black man video taped her.
Chrysanthemum
(188 posts)I also think she was fired because she blatantly committed a crime, namely, a false report to the police.
phandancer917
(145 posts)....but to copy/paste a previous poster:
(without this video) ...the police showed up, this man would have been arrested and all the problems of being a black man arrested (money for lawyers, record, defending one's self against the word of a white woman) would have ensued. No, she is not a victim.
This could have been VERY BAD for this man.
She will likely overcome this roadbump or join Q - por que no los dos?
qwlauren35
(6,147 posts)of the Brett Kavanaugh defenders.
If a white guy does something to harm a woman, he is "just a guy being a guy" and shouldn't go to jail for rape, or shouldn't serve a harsh sentence, or maybe gets probation, and shouldn't go on the sex offender's list because "it would ruin his life". Well he should have thought of that before he did it.
If there is no negative consequence for a white person's actions, then they just keep doing the same horrible things with no fear of retribution.
Go ahead and feel sorry for her - I don't.
There are a LOT of people who have lost their jobs over the last 3 months. Feel sorry for them. THEY could end up homeless.
If she ends up homeless, I really don't give a shit.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Quite the contrary, in fact. Your snippy personal dig at me is misplaced.
Many homeless and unemployable persons are in that condition precisely because of poor decisions they have made.
She should certainly never be treated as if she did not deserve it, and I'm certainly not suggesting that she be promoted to any position of responsibility.
Absolutely, she should die in poverty, and not get any sort of therapy or concern from decent people.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)Win stupid prizes. She falsely accused Mr. Cooper of threatening her life in the hopes he would suffer some level of injustice at the hands of the police. She earned her "prize".
As for never working again, I understand that meat processing plants are hiring.
c-rational
(2,590 posts)be given a pass. Her phone call to the police was a complete corruptionn of the truth, and had the police showed up could well have resulted in more trajic consequences for this man.
Neema
(1,151 posts)him to face that penalty with her false report. In fact it's pretty clear to me that she knew that calling the police and specifically saying her "life was being threatened" by an African American man could likely result in something very bad for him.
And all because he asked her to leash her dog. But she didn't feel like following the clearly stated rules in an area of Central Park specifically set aside for protection of plants and birds. She didn't think they applied to her. She thinks she can use the police as "a protection agency" (her words). What is she a mob boss?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)She doesn't seem mentally stable in the first place, so maybe she will do us all a favor and die.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)As someone who is mentally unstable and not a racist I get really sick of people blaming every bad thing on mental illness. Life is a struggle as it is but it doesn't help with all these stigmatizing language I see online. She threatened to make up that he was threatening her. As far as her losing her job and being homeless I have been there done that.
IronLionZion
(45,426 posts)Probably not as impoverished as you may like to believe.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I wasn't commenting on her present financial condition.
IronLionZion
(45,426 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)How is the financial industry doing on hiring previously-terminated people whose #1 Google search result is "racist asshole"?
Pretty sure the financial industry will do fine without her, and likely will.
IronLionZion
(45,426 posts)and would have less wealth/savings/investments to weather a period of unemployment. Your sympathy is misplaced.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)WTF?
I suggest you might read my comments in this thread again, because you have certainly come away with the wrong impression.
I'm betting she offs herself.
IronLionZion
(45,426 posts)but non-whites never get that benefit of a doubt, just aggressive police action that results in arrest or brutality.
I don't wish suicide on anyone, but she's not a victim.
Response to IronLionZion (Reply #83)
Post removed
BusyBeingBest
(8,052 posts)MY LIFE!!"--trying to intimidate the man by using his race against him in a bogus call to law enforcement--all while strangling her own dog--means I don't give a shit what happens to her for the rest of her shitty life.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)but her pet as well.
area51
(11,905 posts)So I guess they'll bring her back when it's quiet. It's not like there are huge numbers of people newly unemployed who could take her position.
Steelrolled
(2,022 posts)That is my guess. They had to take some action due to the social media. It will allow us to get over it, and start looking for the next outrage.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)"Franklin Templeton Investments, a US asset-management firm,
said an employee had been placed on leave as the company investigated the situation."
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)culture seems to harbor Persons with like attitudes as this Lady. Lots of White Privileged Persons in their Employ.
Deuce
(959 posts)This woman knew exactly what she was doing, by her tone of voice...
She was literally trying to endanger the life of this man...
IMO, perhaps a closet racist!
JudyM
(29,225 posts)The only possible concession Ill give her is that we dont know what preceded her reaction. If he didnt ask her to leash her dog she may have been confused about why he was filming her, or maybe he said something more confrontational before he started filming. But he seems calm and says thank you at the end, suggesting she knew what was going on.
Her poor dog.
George II
(67,782 posts)He did nothing untoward, she knew she should have had her dog on the leash. Apparently he and other birders in the park encounter dogs off their leashes frequently, which is why he carried dog treats.
The man did absolutely nothing wrong, in fact went out of his way to be polite and pleasant.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/us/central-park-video-dog-video-african-american-trnd/index.html
Canoe52
(2,948 posts)At work or in personal relationships shes done this before and knows just how to work it.
Steelrolled
(2,022 posts)You can watch 30 seconds of video and know just what kind of person they are.
Edit for typo.
RobinA
(9,888 posts)This reaction is awful and frightening.
reACTIONary
(5,770 posts)mahina
(17,642 posts)Poor little dog. She couldnt care less that he couldnt breathe and went on forever!
What she did was to use her race and privilege to put the life of that
man at risk for having offended her precious ego.
She lied and could have cost him his life with support from our damages justice system.
I hope she stays fired and her dog gets a good safe living home, and she can reflect on this and change.
Liars cant be trusted with other peoples money.
Javaman
(62,517 posts)3Hotdogs
(12,370 posts)Thousands of peeps in the park. There will always be 3 or 4 peeps riding a bike in the ramble, smoking, dogs off leash... these are all illegal or violation of park regulations.
Confront them, you get ignored, finger back or whatever. She was just one of many. But instead of the finger, she decided to escalate.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)First, the dog should have been on a leash. That pisses me off to no end when idiots think theyre all the dog whisperer and its okay not to go by the rules. As an animal rescuer, you dont know how many freaking times Ive heard Well I never expected that the dog would run... when theres a lifeless body run over in the street.
Second, she is a racist. She was definitely embellishing the dramatics pretending to be threatened and was definitely pulling the race card.
But what are you going to do? Tell her she cant call the cops? Whats the threshold between real concern for safety and a drama queen playing a part. You cannot mandate that someone cannot call the cops - thats what youre SUPPOSED to do if you feel threatened. Was it a bad idea for her to do it? Hell yes.
Shes been placed on leave at this point and will, Im sure, be asked to quietly resign as the investment firm isnt going to want the heat from having her as an employee. She surrendered the dog - which I think is a good thing. And fake as it probably is - she has apologized.
Mr. Cooper has stated he wants an end to this.
So, what else should be done to her? Youre not going to make her NOT be a racist, and if she actually ever did have a change of heart, who is going to ever believe her.
So whats left on this one?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I'll put 200 quatloos on her eventual suicide.
She seems pretty unstable in the first place, so the public attention should easily be enough to tip her over the edge.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Thats what makes us different from them. Compassion.
While these videos serve a purpose, I think any of us with any kind of legal or investigative experience understand that something could (emphasis on me saying could here; not did or might have...,) have happened before the beginning of the video. I always try to remember that. Again, not saying that is the case here, but its something I always consider.
Im not excusing her actions. What she did was not right. But people are calling for her to be arrested and I dont see legal grounds for that. So thats why I asked whats left.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I'm not sure how much reading you do on DU, but there's no end to the demand for retribution to be visited on all sorts of people for all sorts of things.
And if you have a cognitive impairment, emotional or mental disturbance of some kind, or a momentary episode of poor judgment, and manage to kill yourself, you are celebrated with a "Darwin Award" here on DU.
You imagine a different sort of "us" than the "us" which predominately occupies this forum.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)I understand your point. But I would bet that most DUers would not want this woman to harm herself.
Can we leave it at that?
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Suicide is a likely outcome when ones life is over for the foreseeable future in the blink of an eye.
If and when she does Ill try and remember to return here to read the gloating but she will be forgotten long before the next similar feeding frenzy kicks off.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Tough old world when we're held to the consequences of our own actions... so while I get your alleged frustration, I find it self-serving at best.
Aviation91
(114 posts)and could only stand to watch this video once!!
MissMillie
(38,548 posts)and one of the things I had to do was to check the public Facebook pages of prospective Professors/instructors for questionable content.
I guess at one point (before I got there) they reprimanded a Chemistry professor for posting pictures and quotes from "Breaking Bad."
I never once saw anything that caught my attention. I think most (of course, not all) people looking for work are smart enough to keep their social media on the up-and-up.
Joinfortmill
(14,414 posts)Bengus81
(6,931 posts)Aw shucks.............