Amy Cooper, the infamous “Karen” from Central Park, who falsely accused bird watcher Christian Cooper of threatening her life when he asked that she put her dog on a leash, has a history of false accusations and “Karen-like” behavior, according to the New York Times.
According to her neighbors, Amy has a tendency to get into personal disputes, which she often plays the victim in, many having to do with residents asking that he put her dog on a leash. Residents often avoided getting to know her too well due to what some would describe as her combative behavior with fellow dog walkers as well as the building staff.
Neighbor Marisol De Leon said that Amy would frequently walk her cocker spaniel Henry unleashed and had a tendency to become irate when asked not to.
“There was a sense of entitlement,” De Leon explained.
Another neighbor, Alison Faircloth, recalled an incident last winter, where she found Amy visibly upset outside the building’s lobby. Amy claimed that a doorman cursed at her for no reason. Faircloth said that Amy vowed to have the doorman fired. However, when Faircloth inquired about the situation with the doorman, she was told that it was Amy who had escalated the situation by cursing at him and barging into the security booth after complaining of a broken elevator. She had to be forcibly removed by a security guard.
“There’s always a narrative from her about someone who has done her wrong,” Ms. Faircloth said.
Her personal life also seems to be plagued with drama. A few years ago, she filed a lawsuit stating that she had become involved with a married man and had lent him $65,000. Once the man failed to leave his wife for her, she sued him for the money in Manhattan, claiming that he had toyed around with her emotions before settling.
Amy was ultimately let go from her job at Franklin Templeton and forced to surrender her dog, who she was seen on camera being dragged during the Central Park ordeal as she made the false claims against Christian Cooper.
In her likely disingenuous apology, Amy wrote “I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash,” before adding “I am well aware of the pain that misassumptions and insensitive statements about race cause,” she said. “I would never have imagined that I would be involved in the type of incident that occurred.”
