It seems like four years ago that Amy Cooper was gaining national attention for her decision to call the police on Christian Cooper, a Black bird watcher in Central Park. But, time doesn’t exist in quarantine and it was actually just a little over a month ago and on Monday, Amy Cooper was arrested and charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.
In the trial against Amy, prosecutors will have to demonstrate that she truly did not feel threatened and that she had intent to falsely file a report. Based on Christian’s video of the incident, that certainly seems to be the case.
However, Christian told The New York Times that he doesn’t intend on participating in the case against Amy. He cited the non-criminal consequences she has faced and told the NYT that he feels that “she’s already paid a steep price” before asking “that’s not enough of a deterrent to others?”
Christian’s personal decision to not pursue a criminal investigation against Amy has been met with mixed reactions. While some are saying that charges against Amy would be a message to those who try using law enforcement in the same unjust way she did, others believe that charging Amy simply legitimized the idea that jail time is the necessary consequence for all wrongdoings.
amy cooper did something horrible, I believe she is a racist, and I believe she should face consequences for what she did. I do not believe those consequences should be criminal charges, because I do not think this system has the legitimacy or value to address her wrongdoing.
— josie duffy rice (@jduffyrice) July 6, 2020
At first, my personal thought was that Amy should face the legal consequences of her actions. Not only did she commit a crime, but she knew exactly what she was doing when she continually reinforced Christian’s race during her 911 call. Despite this impulse though, we have to ask ourselves why this is our first thought. The movement to defund and abolish the criminal justice system has brought greater attention to the dangers of and the alternatives to incarceration. If we genuinely believe in the positives that alternatives to incarceration have on society and individuals, we have to fight for them across the board.
In many states, it is already a crime to file false police reports, however, there is often little accountability when it comes to calls made with racist intent. The recently proposed CAREN Act (Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies) in San Francisco focuses specifically on actions like those taken by Amy Cooper.
Our recent reckoning with the criminal justice system is inherently uncomfortable. It is met with the internal struggle of how we approach individuals who are objectively doing wrong things. Unfortunately, there’s no clear cut solutions in cases like Amy and Christian Coopers (no relation). However, we do have to respect Christian’s decision not to participate in the case.
Image: Melody Cooper
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Another day, another white woman in NYC calling the police on a Black person who was just trying to go about their business. A woman named Svitlana Flom has officially joined the ranks of Amy Cooper and all the other Karens and Beckys who tried to weaponize their white privilege and call the cops because they were offended by a Black person simply existing… and then got virally shamed for it.
On Sunday, Instagram user @_brownsugarbaby uploaded a series of videos in which Flom can be heard on the phone with police, claiming the other woman is “playing the black card”, “attacking” her, and “threatening her kids”.
In the caption of the post, @_brownsugarbaby says that this went on for over 45 minutes, with Flom calling the police multiple times, “alarmed” that the Black woman had the audacity to sit “comfortably” in what Flom believed to be “her neighborhood”. She explains that the first time Flom called the police, it was because she thought the woman was smoking in public. (Smoking in parks is not legal in NYC and is usually punishable by… a $50 ticket. However, those who may witness someone violating the no-smoking law are encouraged to either inform a Parks Department employee or Park Enforcement Officer, or call 311. In other words, in case there was any doubt, Flom calling the police was reckless and in no way justified.)
After making her initial call in which she thought the woman was smoking, Flom then supposedly upped the ante, claiming the woman was threatening Flom and her children. This, despite the fact that in most of the footage, Flom is nowhere near her children, and her own husband walks away from her. As the woman points out in her video, Svitlana’s husband doesn’t even approach her to ask if she’s okay despite her supposedly being in such extreme distress.
Once the video hit Instagram and Twitter, the internet did their thing and dragged Flom for her dangerous racist actions.
Another day… another Karen using her privilege to call the police on an unmarmed African American woman minding her business getting fresh air in the park. #SvitlanaFlom is her name pic.twitter.com/wVAYu8ymgm
— Bunny (@ButtaNoBiscuits) May 31, 2020
Well another example of damsel in distress theory. The full video is available and for the record this KAREN literally walked herself up to the woman from a DISTANCE meaning more than 3 steps to harass her. Let do work to rid ourselves of people like #SvitlanaFlom https://t.co/DR57PeIe2l
— Danielle Golden (@DanielleGolde1) June 3, 2020
The internet also quickly figured out that Flom is reportedly the co-owner of Maison Vivienne, a French restaurant in NYC, which according to Yelp, is currently closed, though it’s not clear if the closure has anything to do with the incident in the park.
Flom, unsurprisingly, paints a different picture of what went down, telling Page Six that the video was edited “to make me look like a racist”, and that the altercation started because she told the black woman and her friend “they’re not supposed to be smoking “. She claimed the woman “jumped off , ran in my face. She didn’t care I was pregnant, or that I had two little kids.”
To that, all I have to say is:
Images: Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images; @_brownsugarbaby / Instagram; ButtaNoBiscuits, DanielleGolde1 / Twitter; Giphy
