'Central Park Karen' fired after video of her calling police on black man goes viral

Amy Cooper, who the Internet has dubbed "Central Park Karen" after a video of her calling the police on a black bird-watcher went viral, has been fired from her job amid backlash.

After the video went viral, Amy Cooper was placed on administrative leave from her job as head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton, pending an investigation. Now, the company has decided to terminate her after conducting an internal review of the incident in the park.

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

Commenters largely celebrated the decision, with one writing: "Good call. Her tone in making that threat to lie about being threatened. Her emphasis on race. Her fake panic yelling on the phone with police. She knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to see that black man executed by the police for daring to tell her to leash her dog."

Others believe that the decision came "too late."

Some commenters were on Amy Cooper's side, alluding to a comment that Christian Cooper (no relation), the African American man involved in the incident, claimed to have made before he began recording the video.

"Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it,” Christian Cooper said he stated before he began recording. He then attempted to offer the dog a treat that he keeps in his pocket to encourage dog owners to put their animals on a leash.

Video of the incident, shared on Twitter by Christian Cooper's sister, quickly went viral. The Internet dubbed Amy Cooper "Central Park Karen."

Karen has become the Internet's name for all middle-class women who have been caught doing questionable things, including coughing on other people and refusing to wear a mask while shopping. Media outlets have since identified the woman as Amy Cooper (no relation).

"I'm gonna tell them there's an African American man threatening my life," Amy Cooper can be heard saying in the video before calling the police. Throughout the video, Christian Cooper makes no threats towards the woman and only asks her to stay away from him as she begins to approach.

Christian, an avid bird-watcher, claimed on Facebook that the incident took place when he explained that dogs need to wear leashes in the Rambles because it is a designated wildlife area.

Christian claimed that Amy replied that the dog runs are closed, and her pet "needs his exercise."

"All you have to do is take him to the other side of the drive, outside the Ramble, and you can let him run off-leash all you want," Christian claims he responded.

He states that she replied: "It's too dangerous."

Christian said he responded: "Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it."

He then claimed that he called the dog towards him with "dog treats I carry for just for such intransigence." He later clarified with CNN that he keeps the treats to encourage dog owners to put their animals on a leash.

He didn't get a chance to beckon the dog "before Karen scrambled to grab the dog" and yelled: "'DON'T YOU TOUCH MY DOG!'"

"That's when I started video recording with my iPhone, and when her inner Karen fully emerged and took a dark turn," Christian claims.

Amy Cooper told CNN: "He was running in an open field. This man, he was bird-watching. He came out of the bush."

In response to Christian Cooper's comments that "I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it," Amy Cooper said: "I didn't know what that meant. When you're alone in a wooded area, that's absolutely terrifying, right?"

Christian Cooper says that he asked Amy Cooper to put her dog on a leash because they disrupt the birds.

"That's important to us birders because we know that dogs won't be off leash at all and we can go there to see the ground-dwelling birds," he said. "People spend a lot of money and time planting in those areas as well. Nothing grows in a dog run for a reason."

After the video went viral, Amy Cooper was placed on administrative leave from her job as head of insurance investment solutions at Franklin Templeton, pending an investigation.  

"I sincerely and humbly apologize to everyone, especially to that man, his family," she told NBC New York. "It was unacceptable and I humbly and fully apologize to everyone who’s seen that video, everyone that’s been offended… everyone who thinks of me in a lower light and I understand why they do."

"When I think about the police, I’m such a blessed person. I’ve come to realize, especially today, that I think of [the police] as a protection agency, and unfortunately, this has caused me to realize that there are so many people in this country that don’t have that luxury."

Christian Cooper told the publication: "We live in an age of Ahmaud Arbery, where black men are gunned down because of assumptions people make about black men, black people, and I'm just not going to participate in that."

New York Police Department confirmed that no complaints or arrests were made because neither party was present when they responded.