A woman who became infamous last year after she called the police on a Black birdwatcher in Central Park now claims she did so because he was wielding a menacing bicycle helmet.
NBC News reports that Amy Cooper this week appeared on former New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss's podcast in which she doubled down on her decision to tell police that Black birdwatcher Christian Cooper was "threatening" her.
The now-infamous incident occurred shortly after Christian Cooper asked Amy to keep her dog on a leash and then, after she refused, he tried to lure the dog over with treats. He later said it was so that he could make the woman leash her dog.
It was at this point that she called the police and told them, "There's a man, an African-American, he's recording and threatening me and my dog!"
Now Amy Cooper is justifying her description of the incident by claiming she felt threatened by Christian Cooper's bike helmet.
"He's holding these dog treats in one hand and a bike helmet in his other hand and I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, is this guy going to lure my dog over and try to hit him with his bike helmet?'" she said. "And if I end up over there, am I going to get hit by this bike helmet?"