Amy Cooper Faces Charges After Calling Police on Black Bird Watcher

[pknopp]

I didn't supply the link but it seems the victim is telling the authorities to let it go.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

That's pretty callous all right. I was starting to have my doubts considering the way you were defending a snowflake.

That woman's a snowflake, but nobody on the planet is denying that point. What people seem to be less aware of is the fact that all the people calling for her prosecution are also fucking snowflakes.

I'm not defending her for her sake. I'm trying to speak up for the idea of judgements that strive for accuracy and not just emotional gratification, and I'm trying to defend sanity from the idea that calling the police on a black person is a hate crime. Overreaction? Absolutely. But the idea that this put the guy in particular danger is hysterical. Even he knew better: There's a reason he sounded bemused and not alarmed while he was filming her.

 

[katsteve2012]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

Do you know the difference between "diversity" and "adversity"? If so, that would explain why the two matter in this case. As far as "blaming her", if she is that paranoid maybe she should walk in a different place than a public park.

That aside, he apparently has decided to not be part of cooperating with the investigators over the charges that were filed against her.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

Do you know the difference between "diversity" and "adversity"? If so, that would explain why the two matter in this case. As far as "blaming her", if she is that paranoid maybe she should walk in a different place than a public park.

That aside, he apparently has decided to not be part of cooperating with the investigators over the charges that were filed against her.

You keep asking about the difference between adversity and diversity, and I don't see where I've demonstrated a lack of understanding in that department. I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's an honest question and not a mediocre word-play joke that you felt the need to fire off twice, but I gotta admit I am at a loss as to why it matters. I would find it hard to believe that she lives in an urban area and interacting with black people is novel to her, but seriously, why WOULD it matter if her fear was due to a lack of prior exposure to African Americans? Honestly, would that make her reaction more forgivable or less, in your opinion? I'm truly curious.

Your sentence about blaming the woman for her fear seems to be dismissing that framing immediately before stating that, due to this fear, she should stay out of public areas. If her choices are to forfeit her right to move about and associate freely, or to be prosecuted when her fear response causes people to take offense, then she's certainly being punished for her fear, whether or not you choose to accept that she's being blamed for it.

Christian Cooper seems to be a better man than most of the folks offended on his behalf. Pulling out his camera and making a joke out of this woman was precisely the right response, in my book, and the fact that he's willing to let some shit that truly didn't matter slide when so many people are raging at their computer screens about it shows a level of character that has become sadly rare in modern culture.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Good. Fuck that bitch. She's an asshole of the highest order.

I think they are called Karens.

 

[katsteve2012]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

Do you know the difference between "diversity" and "adversity"? If so, that would explain why the two matter in this case. As far as "blaming her", if she is that paranoid maybe she should walk in a different place than a public park.

That aside, he apparently has decided to not be part of cooperating with the investigators over the charges that were filed against her.

You keep asking about the difference between adversity and diversity, and I don't see where I've demonstrated a lack of understanding in that department. I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's an honest question and not a mediocre word-play joke that you felt the need to fire off twice, but I gotta admit I am at a loss as to why it matters. I would find it hard to believe that she lives in an urban area and interacting with black people is novel to her, but seriously, why WOULD it matter if her fear was due to a lack of prior exposure to African Americans? Honestly, would that make her reaction more forgivable or less, in your opinion? I'm truly curious.

Your sentence about blaming the woman for her fear seems to be dismissing that framing immediately before stating that, due to this fear, she should stay out of public areas. If her choices are to forfeit her right to move about and associate freely, or to be prosecuted when her fear response causes people to take offense, then she's certainly being punished for her fear, whether or not you choose to accept that she's being blamed for it.

Christian Cooper seems to be a better man than most of the folks offended on his behalf. Pulling out his camera and making a joke out of this woman was precisely the right response, in my book, and the fact that he's willing to let some shit that truly didn't matter slide when so many people are raging at their computer screens about it shows a level of character that has become sadly rare in modern culture.

You can rest assured that I'm not playing a word game, it is not really that important but for the sake of explaining, my point was that her lack of exposure to or discomfort with people who are different, even in a public place could have gone very badly for him. Even though it didn't in the outcome it could have due to undeserved perceptions.

Luckily it did not.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

He looks like a bird watcher. The woman was being a shit who did not like anyone telling her to leash her dog. I've had the same confrontations with those who refuse to leash their dog. That's criminal.

Anyway, the criminal case is over. Mr. Birdie is refusing to cooperate. He is not vindictive who only wants an end to it. She lost her dog so maybe that should be the end of it.

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

He looks like a bird watcher. The woman was being a shit who did not like anyone telling her to leash her dog. I've had the same confrontations with those who refuse to leash their dog. That's criminal.

Anyway, the criminal case is over. Mr. Birdie is refusing to cooperate. He is not vindictive who only wants an end to it. She lost her dog so maybe that should be the end of it.

Thankfully she got her dog back.

YouTube did a great job purging the full story, but I remember seeing MUCH MORE than what you'll find today. The woman WAS right. She didnt deserve what the mob did to her.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I saw what she did to her dog. Disgraceful m

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

I saw what she did to her dog. Disgraceful m

She was panicked. The dog was glad to be reunited with her.

 

[whitehall]

They are burning freaking cities but NY's Finest finds time to charge a ditsy babe in Central Park for making a fake 9-11 call.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

He looks like a bird watcher. The woman was being a shit who did not like anyone telling her to leash her dog. I've had the same confrontations with those who refuse to leash their dog. That's criminal.

Anyway, the criminal case is over. Mr. Birdie is refusing to cooperate. He is not vindictive who only wants an end to it. She lost her dog so maybe that should be the end of it.

Lol! He looks like a bird watcher who outweighs her by about 100 lbs of muscle, who told her she's not going to like what he's going to do and then starting calling her dog over. Maybe you believe that was an overreaction on her part, I certainly do, but it wasn't past the bounds of how I've seen reasonable people react to unknown threat levels coming from confrontations with people who could theoretically completely overpower them. Also, neither of us were there in her shoes, so calling it criminal that her reaction was offensive is at least as much of an overreaction as her own. You can't defeat Karens with Karen'ing, that's like cutting the legs off a starfish.

 

[Not2BSubjugated]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

Do you know the difference between "diversity" and "adversity"? If so, that would explain why the two matter in this case. As far as "blaming her", if she is that paranoid maybe she should walk in a different place than a public park.

That aside, he apparently has decided to not be part of cooperating with the investigators over the charges that were filed against her.

You keep asking about the difference between adversity and diversity, and I don't see where I've demonstrated a lack of understanding in that department. I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's an honest question and not a mediocre word-play joke that you felt the need to fire off twice, but I gotta admit I am at a loss as to why it matters. I would find it hard to believe that she lives in an urban area and interacting with black people is novel to her, but seriously, why WOULD it matter if her fear was due to a lack of prior exposure to African Americans? Honestly, would that make her reaction more forgivable or less, in your opinion? I'm truly curious.

Your sentence about blaming the woman for her fear seems to be dismissing that framing immediately before stating that, due to this fear, she should stay out of public areas. If her choices are to forfeit her right to move about and associate freely, or to be prosecuted when her fear response causes people to take offense, then she's certainly being punished for her fear, whether or not you choose to accept that she's being blamed for it.

Christian Cooper seems to be a better man than most of the folks offended on his behalf. Pulling out his camera and making a joke out of this woman was precisely the right response, in my book, and the fact that he's willing to let some shit that truly didn't matter slide when so many people are raging at their computer screens about it shows a level of character that has become sadly rare in modern culture.

You can rest assured that I'm not playing a word game, it is not really that important but for the sake of explaining, my point was that her lack of exposure to or discomfort with people who are different, even in a public place could have gone very badly for him. Even though it didn't in the outcome it could have due to undeserved perceptions.

Luckily it did not.

It could have gone badly, and maybe this is just a result of my own inflamed political biases, but I can't help but feel like calling it lucky that he wasn't hurt by the police is a hysterical oversensitivity to the actual statistical likelihood of that happening, especially considering that this dude DOES speak with the vernacular of a Harvard graduate, and IS a calm person who's apparent disposition in the video seemed to be one unlikely to inflame potential tensions with responding officers. I don't say that to disparage poor and working class dialects, black or otherwise, but it's my opinion that class signifiers have at least a comparably significant level of impact on a person's first impressions of someone else to those of racial signifiers. In fact, I have a hunch that, from a police officer's perspective, those class signifiers are far more impactful. Seems to me that any average white city cop is going to be way more on edge responding to a call in a trailer park where he's gotta deal with a guy in a dirty wife beater who's got half his teeth, than he is if he has to respond to a call in an upscale suburb and deal with a Michael Eric Dyson looking dude wearing a pricey suit and prescription lenses.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

I'm pretty sure filing a false police report is regularly enforced.

The article says it rarely happens.

Besides, it’s on the video that the man is harassing her.

He's an openly gay comic book writer/bird watching enthusiast. How threatened do you think she really felt?

Oh snap, I must've missed the part of the video where the guy tells her about his occupation and hobbies and disarms her with tales of his romantic proclivities.

Let's be real, I can't vouch for his height (though he appears to be at least 6'2", 6'3" in images where the handlebars of what appears to be a touring bicycle reach roughly the level of his hips), but the birdwatcher has the square jaw and muscular build that one might expect of a retired serviceman and a neck like a collegiate wrestler. If I was a slight of build woman who had even the most remote inkling that this dude wanted to do me or my dog harm and knew nothing about him but what I was looking at, I could see being pretty freaked out.

He was speaking pretty calmly and didn't seem to have any violence in his motives, so personally it strikes me as an overreaction on her part, but you and I also have the ability to sit back at an antiseptic distance and make that judgement with zero possibility of having that presumption cost us anything. Acting like this guy shouldn't appear threatening because of things that you've read about his background is simply ignoring the limitations of the woman's perspective in that moment.

He looks like a nerd. He was wearing a bicycle helmet and bird watching when the incident occurred. He was complaining about some park ordinance. I don't think you need a bio to know he wasn't some thug.

There's a fair amount of daylight between "some thug" and "not at all a threat". He doesn't look like a gangster by any means, but let's be clear, he wears glasses but he doesn't look like a nerd.

View attachment 360425View attachment 360426View attachment 360427
He ain't built like a nerd. Relatively tall, muscular, neck like a wrestler. In most of the pictures I found of the guy, these three not withstanding, he seems to have a pretty jovial resting facial expression, and obviously isn't someone who goes around trying to look intimidating. Physically speaking however, if this guy wanted to do something violent to that woman or her dog, he appears to have the athleticism to do quite a bit of damage, and she would WITHOUT A DOUBT be helpless to stop him. When faced with a confrontation framed within the reality of physical helplessness, a lot of people lose their shit. Particularly sheltered, Karen types.

If you ask me, this is less about racism and more about the untrained stress response of someone who hasn't had to face a lot of real adversity in her life.

Do you mean "Diversity" instead of "Adversity"?

Her statement that "BLACK MAN" was "threatening" her, would lead me to think the prior. He is quite lucky that some overzealous, on edge cop was not dispatched.

Does it matter? Even if what she was expressing was an unreasonable fear of black people, do you blame her for that? Do you choose the things that you fear? I don't.

Maybe he's lucky that some overzealous cop wasn't dispatched. Though, if it's fear of being another unarmed black man shot by the police that he's potentially lucky for avoiding, then maybe he's also lucky he didn't get struck by lightning that afternoon. Or attacked by a shark! That shit would suck.

Do you know the difference between "diversity" and "adversity"? If so, that would explain why the two matter in this case. As far as "blaming her", if she is that paranoid maybe she should walk in a different place than a public park.

That aside, he apparently has decided to not be part of cooperating with the investigators over the charges that were filed against her.

You keep asking about the difference between adversity and diversity, and I don't see where I've demonstrated a lack of understanding in that department. I wanna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's an honest question and not a mediocre word-play joke that you felt the need to fire off twice, but I gotta admit I am at a loss as to why it matters. I would find it hard to believe that she lives in an urban area and interacting with black people is novel to her, but seriously, why WOULD it matter if her fear was due to a lack of prior exposure to African Americans? Honestly, would that make her reaction more forgivable or less, in your opinion? I'm truly curious.

Your sentence about blaming the woman for her fear seems to be dismissing that framing immediately before stating that, due to this fear, she should stay out of public areas. If her choices are to forfeit her right to move about and associate freely, or to be prosecuted when her fear response causes people to take offense, then she's certainly being punished for her fear, whether or not you choose to accept that she's being blamed for it.

Christian Cooper seems to be a better man than most of the folks offended on his behalf. Pulling out his camera and making a joke out of this woman was precisely the right response, in my book, and the fact that he's willing to let some shit that truly didn't matter slide when so many people are raging at their computer screens about it shows a level of character that has become sadly rare in modern culture.

You can rest assured that I'm not playing a word game, it is not really that important but for the sake of explaining, my point was that her lack of exposure to or discomfort with people who are different, even in a public place could have gone very badly for him. Even though it didn't in the outcome it could have due to undeserved perceptions.

Luckily it did not.

Agree.

 

[irosie91]

Fascism at work, charging someone with something that is never enforced.

The black man was harassing her, it’s on the video. White women have a reason to be afraid of black men, they are the most violent group in the country, and often assault and rape white women.

If the man harassed the woman on video, then her report was likely not false. However, if her dog was not on a leash, she is quite culpable for her failure to comply with ordinances against unleashed animals in public places.

What was she thinking to run an unleashed dog in a large public park. Here's why I think so: dog poop can cost a billion dollar watershed cleanup as it did in Virginia in 1991.

Other reasons: Picking Up Dog Waste: Scoop the Poop | Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District

YES!!!!! Letting a big dog ran around a public place should be a FELONY-----I have
experienced EXTREME persecution for complaining about loose dogs. I am a short, left-
handed, very white .......<sob> female. I hope she is jailed

 

[The Irish Ram]

Like blacks don't falsely accuse. You have the Tawana Smolletts to lie about whites...

 

[CarlinAnnArbor]

Like blacks don't falsely accuse. You have the Tawana Smolletts to lie about whites...

Except, if you start looking into the case, he was THREATENING this woman out there alone with her dog. This culture automatically give a black person the benefit of the doubt when he cries "racism!"

 

[PoliticalChic]

Like blacks don't falsely accuse. You have the Tawana Smolletts to lie about whites...

I suppose if Hussein had a son, he'd look like Jussi,.....

 

[hadit]

Him asking her to put her dog on a leash was horrably threatening, wasnt it? Back when America was great, a black man would have been lynched for talking to a white woman. Trump is trying hard to remake America just like it was back then. MAGA!!

Obsession alert! TRUMP! has nothing to do with this.