NY Times circulates false claim about woman fired over viral Central Park racism video

Amy Cooper's world was turned upside down in May when she, a white woman, called the police on Christian Cooper, a black man, in Central Park. Amy Cooper was walking her dog without a leash in a section of the park that requires animals to be leashed. Amy Cooper told police that her life was being threatened, but video evidence proved that was not true.

The story was immediately thrust into the national spotlight as yet another instance of blatant racism. Amy Cooper was eventually fired from her job.

But she found herself back in the news last week following a new story from the New York Times.

What did the Times report?

The Times reported that Amy Cooper called police not just once, but twice, to claim that Christian Cooper was threatening her life.

In a story titled, "Amy Cooper Falsely Accused Black Bird-Watcher in 2nd 911 Conversation," the so-called "newspaper of record" reported:

Amy Cooper, the white woman who called the police on a Black bird-watcher in Central Park, had a second, previously unreported conversation with a 911 dispatcher in which she falsely claimed that the man tried to assault her, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

"The defendant twice reported that an African-American man was putting her in danger, first by stating that he was threatening her and her dog, and then in a second call indicating that he tried to assault her in the Ramble area of the park," Joan Illuzzi, a senior prosecutor, said.

The story came the same day as the explosive story about Hunter Biden in the New York Post. And as was noted on social media, because of the Times' story, "Amy Cooper" trended on Twitter — not Hunter Biden.

But, as it turned out, the Times' story was incorrect.

What's the truth?

Although it was easily provable by watching the video of Amy Cooper that went viral, Cooper did not, as the Times' claimed, call police twice to report that Christian Cooper was threatening her life.

In fact, the second call between Amy Cooper and police was initiated by a 911 dispatcher.

An editor's note at the top of the Times' story now reads, "Editors' note: The New York Times and several other news organizations originally reported on Wednesday that Ms. Cooper made a second call to 911, citing courtroom statements. But on Friday, people familiar with the case clarified that the second call had actually been made by a 911 dispatcher who called Ms. Cooper back. This story has been updated to reflect that new information."

However, the Times did not update the headline of the story, nor did it delete social media posts that reported the false information, leading to new scorn against Cooper.