Black birdwatcher Christian Cooper condemned all threats against Amy Cooper, a white woman who called the police on him following a disagreement in Central Park.
Since a portion of the incident was posted online by Mr. Cooper, Ms. Cooper has lost her job and received death threats for calling the police and telling them there was an “African American man threatening [her] life.” During a Tuesday interview on CNN, Mr. Cooper addressed the situation and condemned all threats against Ms. Cooper.
“Some of the messaging I am told has been death threats, and that is wholly inappropriate and abhorrent and should stop immediately,” he said. “I find it strange that people who were upset that they — as they see it, and rightly, that she tried to bring death by cop down on my head would then turn around and try to put death threats on her head.”
“Where is the logic in that? Where does that make any kind of sense?” he added.
He had wanted Ms. Cooper to join him during the interview to bring some closure to an incident that he said had “snowballed.” Ms. Cooper, however, did not respond to requests to join the show but issued a public apology for her actions hours earlier.
“I think I was just scared,” she said. “I’m not a racist. I did not mean to harm that man in any way.”
The two Coopers are not related. The full context of the incident is unclear, but Mr. Cooper claimed the two started arguing after he asked that she put her dog on a leash in an area of New York City’s Central Park where it was required.
