It was only yesterday that we learned the District Attorney in Manhattan was bringing charges against Amy Cooper, the now infamous Central Park Karen. At the time, I noted that the DA might have a hard time making those charges stick for a variety of reasons, aside from public support for continuing to dunk on Cooper seeming to wane. But the prosecutor’s job became even more difficult overnight. The “other Cooper” involving the original incident, birdwatcher Christian Cooper, has told reporters that he is refusing to cooperate in the investigation. Since he’s allegedly the aggrieved party, not to mention the only other witness to the events leading up to the 911 call, this development shoots a hole in the hull of the case.
One of the big issues with the idea of on the scene videos that can be taken by pretty much anyone with a cell phone is the ability to edit and massage a video to make it appear in a certain light. In this case, the viral video started at the time when Amy Cooper appeared to be threatening to call the police on a black man, simply because he was black.
The argument involved the fact that Cooper had a dog that was not leashed (as the law requires) and that the birdwatcher was upset that the dog was scaring away the birds. Now I do take some issue with people who simply see themselves above the rules and regulations. Whether or not someone's own dog is well trained and well behaved, you should always leash your dogs if someone else is uncomfortable with the situation.
But the buzz is that in the moments just prior to the released viral portions of the video, that the birdwatcher may have actually threatened to cause harm to Cooper's dog. Stating he had dog treats to lure the dog over to him. Now we don't know exactly how far these alleged threats went from the birdwatcher, but there certainly is room for a situation where the birdwatchers actions could have triggered a legitimate response from Cooper over a possible police call.
What we have to remember is that it is not "illegal" to be racist or to make racist remarks. This situation is only illegal if there was actually no threat from the birdwatcher to be reported. The fact that the birdwatcher is uncooperative might be a sign that there was more to this situation than the viral video led everyone to believe. We will have to see which direction the prosecutors go with this one, as political pressure might suggest that they have to do "something" to deal with Central Park Karen!
4 comments:
What we have to remember is that it is not "illegal" to be racist or to make racist remarks.
indeed. however, we also have to remember that anything can be made into a 'hate crime' simply by calling it a 'hate crime.'
this is yet another chapter in the liberal "unintended consequences chronicles."
look at the california folks who painted over the black lies matter street art with black paint.
they've been charged with a hate crime.
so i guess it IS ILLEGAL to be racist or to make racist remarks.
thanks to the left, we are all now winston smith.
yay.
As usual, Ch speculates wildly. The black man involved doesn't want to press charges because he thinks the woman has already been caused to suffer too much by losing her job, etc.
She later apologized for her reaction and said it was uncalled for.
Ch seems to want to find something detrimental to the birdwatcher, however.
Blogger James said...
As usual, Ch speculates wildly. The black man involved doesn't want to press charges because he thinks the woman has already been caused to suffer too much by losing her job, etc.
actually pederast, it's not up to the black guy. it's up to cyrus vance. he's the DA who has chosen to prosecute her.
little factoids like this seem to escape you all the time around here.
As usual, Ch speculates wildly. The black man involved doesn't want to press charges because he thinks the woman has already been caused to suffer too much by losing her job, etc.
Sorry Reverend... didn't know you spoke to the birdwatcher yourself. If we had all known that you and him were buddies and chatted about this, then the world could have just let it go.
Perhaps you should have passed on the topic of your conversations with the prosecutor, who seems hell bent on prosecuting this.
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