Documentary Footage Shows Christian Cooper Talking About Birdwatching in Central Park

Documentary footage from 2019 shows Christian Cooper, the black man who was threatened with the police by a white woman in New York’s Central Park, talking about his love of bird watching and nature.

Cooper filmed the viral incident at New York’s Central Park on May 25 after he asked the woman, Amy Cooper, who is no relation, to put a leash on her dog, as required by the rules in that section of the park. He began filming after she refused. The video shows the woman dialing 911 and saying would tell police “an African-American man is threatening my life.”

Amy Cooper was fired by her employer, investment firm Franklin Templeton, because of the incident.

File footage shows Cooper talking about his love for bird watching, saying, “You hear about birds and you see them in a book, and you’re like ‘oh wow, that’s an amazing bird, I’d love to see that some day.’” A clip of the video had garnered more than 8.5 million views on Twitter by May 27. Credit: Topic via Storyful