Texas state senator says woman at center of Central Park confrontation should be arrested

A Democratic state senator from Texas is calling for the arrest of a white woman who was seen in viral footage calling the police on a black birdwatcher in Central Park and falsely accusing him of threatening her.

“We need more than a slap on the wrist here to deter this from happening again,” state Sen. Royce West (D-Texas), who is also running for the U.S. Senate in the state’s Democratic primary later this year, said in a statement. “This woman displayed explicit bias in claiming an African American man was causing her to fear for her life.”

His comments come a day after Amy Cooper, the woman at the center of the viral confrontation in Central Park, was fired from investment firm Franklin Templeton over the incident. 

Amy Cooper had been thrust into national spotlight this week after footage emerged on social media showing her interaction with a birdwatcher, Christian Cooper, with whom she shares no relation, in the park last week. 

Christian Cooper said in an interview earlier this week that the incident occurred shortly after he asked the woman to put her dog on a leash, as signs in the park advise, after he noticed a cocker spaniel nearby. However, he said she refused, after which he began to record the confrontation. 

In footage of what appeared to take place happen shortly after, the woman can be seen approaching him, telling him to stop recording her. Christian Cooper is then heard off-screen asking the woman not to come closer to him moments before Amy Cooper tells the man she will call the cops.

“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” she said.

“Please tell them whatever you’d like,” he replied.

When she does appear to be on the phone with police, the woman begins to talk more frantically, saying: “He is recording me and threatening myself and my dog.” However, at the time, Christian Cooper, stood several feet away from her.

In a Wednesday statement on the incident, West said, “This type of conduct must be addressed.” 

“Making a false police report is illegal in New York, as it is in Texas and many other states … This type of conduct is what creates an atmosphere that can result in African Americans being falsely arrested, shot, or killed by police. People who attempt to weaponize the police against African Americans and other minorities must be held accountable,” West continued. 

“She wasted police time on racist garbage because she didn’t want to leash her dog,” he added. “The New York penal code should be used here to its fullest extent.”