Dog walker who called police on African American man out bird-watching fired by her employer following uproar.

A verbal dispute between a white woman walking her dog and a Black man bird-watching in New York City’s Central Park might normally have gone unnoticed in a city preoccupied by the coronavirus pandemic.

That changed, however, when birdwatcher Christian Cooper pulled out his phone and captured Amy Cooper calling police to report she was being threatened by “an African American man”. The widely watched video – posted on Facebook by Christian Cooper and on Twitter by his sister – has sparked accusations of racism.

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The confrontation began early Monday morning when Christian Cooper said he noticed Amy Cooper had let her dog off its leash against the rules in the Rambles, a secluded section of Central Park popular with birdwatchers.

In a Facebook post, he claimed the dog was “tearing through the plantings” and told her she should go to another part of the park. When she refused, he pulled out dog treats, causing her to scream at him to not come near her dog.

In the fallout, investment firm Franklin Templeton announced it was putting Amy Cooper on administrative leave while it investigates the confrontation. On Tuesday afternoon, the company announced that it had fired her.

Following our internal review of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton.

Amy Cooper earlier told CNN that she wanted to “publicly apologise to everyone”, adding, “I am not a racist.”

“I think I was just scared,” Amy Cooper said. “When you’re alone in the Rambles, you don’t know what’s happening. It’s not excusable, it’s not defensible.”

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