Right. I figured it out once I re-read the headline. I was just a little amused by the way the title was phrased. I have had people, including security guards and others, get suspicious of me even as a white birdwatcher.
I have in fact watched blackbirds in the company of black blackbird birdwatchers.
I kinda feel like enough white folks are outraged by this that even white clients would be feeling some kind of way about dealing with her. And the way she was treating that poor dog, I gotta think responsible pet owners would want to pass on her.
Not sure I’ve seen anything here about the George Floyd incident in Minneapolis where he died in the process of getting arrested: 4 Minneapolis cops fired after video shows one kneeling on neck of black man who later died | CNN
Shades of Eric Garner 
Even after hearing the pleas of George and bystanders and knowing they were on video, the cops continued to act callously… at least these officers have been fired and an FBI investigation has been opened, but it is brutal that these sort of events continue to happen.
She looked like she was trying to get the birdwatcher killed, so I felt kinda bad about paying attention to her throttling the puppy, but holy shit, lady, way to show that it’s not just a one-off with you, you’re awful on multiple axes.
It’s not mob action. It’s action taken by that person’s employer. I would not deny employers the right to take this kind of action.
IIRC, there was a case a year or two ago of an online gamer “SWATting” his opponent, that is, calling the opponent’s local police and claiming some heinous crime that resulted in the police kicking down the door and entering in force, which resulted in the guy getting shot and the game being charged with murder. So there’s precedent for calling what this woman did “attempted murder”.
I’d say the overwhelming majority of Redditors see this woman as the ultimate racist, which is comforting because typically in stories like this, you’ll find lots of folks who don’t feel comfortable using the “r-word” and want to wait for all the facts to come in before rendering a judgment. I wonder if the footage of her strangling her dog is responsible for this collective clarity.
Psychology grad students, contact me if you need a research topic for your dissertation! :
OK, I looked it up. The SWATter was charged with “false information and hoaxes” federally, involuntary manslaughter in Kansas, and false alarm in California.
I think this case is a great argument for - as a society - increasing the scope of what we consider to be racism. When she made her “I’m not racist but…” statement, I believe that what she meant was, “I don’t wear a hood and go to meetings or tell jokes with the ‘n’ word. I don’t consciously have any biases against hiring candidates of other races, and I probably even have a few friends of other races.” But it’s plain that whether conscious of it or not, she was absolutely willing to use her privileged position in society - a privilege granted to her by means of her race - to get whatever selfish thing she wants in the moment. A better statement for her to make would be, “I didn’t realize I was a racist, but now I do, and here’s how I’m going to fix it: …”
Also, as an aside, unpopular opinion here, I’m all for murdering off-leash dogs in public spaces where leashes are required. Only way to teach their damn owners.
I’m not defending that crazy woman, but DO NOT GIVE OTHER PEOPLE’S DOG TREATS!
Now that I’ve seen him, I understand why she was terrified of this guy. I mean, under certain circumstances I would absolutely be afraid of him too. For example, if he were my opponent and “Ornithology” is the Final Jeopardy category.
It’d get you to put the rat pack on leash real quick, wouldn’t it?
Not to hijack but a super interesting-looking video series on Birds of N. America hosted by a New York birdwatcher who is black is apparently temporarily available for free watching.
Not only is the dude non-threatening but in the CNN “apology” article they mention Cooper was wearing a bike helmet. Nobody but nobody looks threatening in a bike helmet.
Put yer fuckin dog on a leash and he won’t. I support him 100%, and he’s the hero we need.
And the thing is, he THREATENED her with that: “Look, if you’re going to do what you want, I’m going to do what I want, but you’re not going to like it.”
I get being a little nervous at that. But then he pulls out doggie biscuits? That’s hilarious. The right response is to laugh, say, “Okay, checkmate, man,” and leash your goddamned dog.
That clip is from Birders: The Central Park Effect. I know half a dozen of the other people in the film, although I don’t recall having met Cooper in person. (That’s an excellent little film, BTW.)
Well, this is a little bit disingenuous. Often in this sort of thing, mob action and/or the threat of mob action is what motivates the employer to fire the employee.
In this case, it was probably justified, but there’s been plenty of instances where the mob gets outraged about something, the employer fires the person involved because they don’t want to face the mob, and then it turns out the mob was wrong and the person did nothing wrong!
You know, we’re seeing mob action lately. Mob action looks like a bunch of assholes with guns going down to the state capital and lynching the governor in effigy, because they don’t like a health-and-safety decision.
MOB ACTION IS NOT FACING CRITICISM ON TWITTER.
Christ almighty. In the midst of actual violent threats against our government, and people are still trotting this weak shit out.
Dog-walker Amy Cooper prompts new hate crime legislation.
Can I just say that I feel very sorry for all the Amy Coopers out there who aren’t racist dog abusers? I swear, it seems like almost every news article about this woman has blasted her name in the headline. It’s hilarious but also messed-up.
Oh shit: Man who hanged Kentucky governor in effigy is fired from his job. The delicious irony is that conservatives will identify the mob action in this news story as “poor man got fired,” because they’re brainwashed cultists.