Amy Cooper Charge for Calling Police on Black Bird-Watcher Is Dismissed

A New York judge Tuesday dismissed the case against Amy Cooper, the white woman who falsely accused a Black bird-watcher of threatening her life, after Ms. Cooper completed a racial-education and therapy program.

In July, the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged Ms. Cooper with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree following a viral video of her calling the police in May on Christian Cooper, a bird-watcher who had asked that Ms. Cooper leash her dog in Central Park, as required by the park’s rules. Ms. Cooper, who isn’t related to Mr. Cooper, told the bird-watcher she would call the police and tell them “there’s an African-American man threatening my life.”

Prosecutors said Ms. Cooper told the police that Mr. Cooper tried to assault her and her dog, which wasn’t true.

Mr. Cooper’s video of his encounter with Ms. Cooper was cited as evidence that Black people often face law-enforcement scrutiny for everyday behavior.

During a court hearing Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi asked Judge Anne Swern to dismiss the case. “We offered her, consistent with our position on many misdemeanor cases involving a first arrest, an alternative, restorative justice resolution; designed not just to punish but to educate and promote community healing,” Ms. Illuzzi told the judge, according to remarks provided by the district attorney’s office.