A black Texas State Senator has jumped into the fray after a New York City woman was caught on video falsely accusing an African-American man of threatening after he called her out for walking her dog off-leash in Central Park.
The woman, identified as Amy Cooper, has become the center of a national focus for calling the police on Christian Cooper.
According to CBS-DFW, Texas State Sen. Royce West (D) is calling for the arrest.
“Making a false police report is illegal in New York as it is in Texas and many other states. This type of conduct must be addressed,” he said in a statement.
“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,” he elaborated.
Noting that he was aware she had apologized, he added, "We need more than a slap on the wrist here to deter this from happening again. This woman displayed explicit bias in claiming an African American man was causing her to fear for her life. She wasted police time on racist garbage because she didn’t want to leash her dog. The New York penal code should be used here to its fullest extent.”
The woman has already been suspended by her employer and returned her dog, Henry, to the rescue group where she first obtained him.
