A video showing a woman – white – with a dog calling the Police on a man – black – for asking her to put a leash on a dog has gone viral.
The video which was posted by Melody Cooper – @melodyMcooper – a Sci-Fi writer, has garnered over 21 million views on Twitter.
Melody said, the video was recorded by her brother, Christian Cooper, an avid birdwatcher who had gone to Central Park in New York to watch birds.
Christian saw a dog without a leash and approached the owner, Amy Cooper – not a relation of his – to put the dog on a leash.
This was because dogs were not allowed to be without a leash in the area.
The woman, Amy, reacted instead by threatening to call the police, which she eventually did.
She said “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life.”
After finally putting the dog on the leash, Christian thanked her and left.
Melody his sister wrote on Twitter that “My brother & I are so grateful for your concern! He is fine and left to continue birding after she leashed the dog, as he politely requested”.
She explained that, she wanted people to know what happened to make sure it never happens again, “All she had to do was put her poor dog on the leash”.
Washington Post reports that “Less than 24 hours later after a video of their exchange went online, she has lost her dog, her anonymity, and temporarily, her job — the latest incident in a long, too-familiar pattern of white people calling the police on black people for any number of everyday activities.”
Amy, was reported to have apologised for her behavior, This however did not stop the series of backlash from social media – with some people calling for her to be fired.
Watch the video below:
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
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