At one point, a white woman in Central Park calls the NYPD and hysterically tells them "an African-American man is threatening her life," when all he asked her to do was tether her dog.

• Video posted Monday shows a white women threatening to call cops on a black man in New York
• Melody Cooper shared the clip of her bird-watcher brother Christian Cooper's encounter with the dog walker
• Melody said her brother politely asked the woman to put the dog on a leash 
• The woman is seen petting her dog then suddenly asks the man to stop filming
• When he doesn't stop, she marches up to him and says she's going to tell cops 'an African American man threatening my life' 
• The woman repeats to cops that an African American man is recording her dog but after a brief pause she becomes hysterical
• She yells: 'I'm being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately…'

A video of a white woman calling cops and telling them an African American man was threatening her life after he asked her to put her dog on a leash in New York's Central Park on Monday has ignited anger online.

Video posted Monday by Melody Cooper, a writer and director on HBO's Two-Sentence Horror Stories, shows the woman out walking her dog which is not attached to a leash.

The footage begins with the dog-walker, nicknamed 'Central Park Karen' by social media users, stroking her pet then marching toward the amateur videographer - Melody's brother Christian Cooper, demanding: 'Please stop, sir I'm asking you to stop.' 

Christian, who does not appear on camera, claimed in a Facebook post that he alerted her to a sign that states dogs cannot be walked in the Rambles from 9am to 9pm as it's an area that protects wildlife. Woman calls cops on black man after he asks her to put dog on leash

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Video posted by an HBO director Monday shows a white women threatening to call cops and tell them an African American man is threatening her life

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Christian Cooper is an avid birdwatcher who noticed the dog unleashed in a wildlife protected area in Central Park but he claims when he asked her adhere to rules, she refused

The man, who is an avid bird-watcher, claimed she replied that the dog runs are closed and her pet 'needs his exercise'.

Christian explained in a Facebook post that he replied: 'All you have to do is take him to the other side of the drive, outside the Ramble, and you can let him run off leash all you want.'

He states she replied: 'It's too dangerous.' 

Christian told Facebook followers that he told her: '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.'

He then beckoned the pooch toward him and pulled out 'dog treats I carry for just for such intransigence'. 

In the clip he responds: 'Please don't come close to me' several times as the woman asks him to stop filming then tells him she's calling the cops.

When Christian invites her to 'please call the cops', she responds, 'I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life.'

Christian responds to the dog owner: 'Please tell them whatever you like.'

She is then heard saying: 'I'm in the Ramble and an African American man with a bicycle helmet, he is recording me and threatening my dog.' 

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Christian wrote on Facebook that he offered the dog treats then things 'took a dark turn'

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The woman is seen petting her pooch then suddenly asks the man to stop filming but when he doesn't stop she marches directly up to him with a stern message

She pauses for a moment then continues: 'I'm am in Central Park, there is an African American man. He is recording me and threatening my dog.'

There is another pause as the woman listens to the other end of the phone line then she suddenly sounds hysterical.

'I'm sorry I can't hear,' she cries. 'I'm being threatened by a man in the Ramble, please send the cops immediately…'

After a brief pause she responds to the operator: 'I'm in Central Park in the Ramble, I don't know.'

At that point the woman clips the dog onto a leash and Christian responds: 'Thank you' and stops filming.

Throughout the video the dog is seen flailing around seemingly eager to be free of the woman's restraint as she grabs the harness by the neck without attaching a leash. 

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'I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life,' she says as she gets closer to the man she apparently fears. The man tells her to say whatever she wants

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The woman repeats to cops that an African American man is recording her dog but after a brief pause she becomes hysterical and claims he's threatening her and her dog

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The man says thank you and stops filming as soon as she attaches her dog to a leash

Central Park states that dogs must be on a leash from 9am to 9pm in the Ramble - a protected nature reserve between 73rd and 78th Streets.

Christian's sister said he stopped filming once she adhered to his request.

'He's fine, thankfully,' Cooper responded to a Twitter user. 'No I told him to be careful! As soon as she leashed the dog, he said thank you stopped filming and went about his business. This kind of entitlement dog walking happens weekly in the Ramble.'

'He was physically accosted by one guy who shoved him. I've told my bro to bird (socially distancing) with others,' she tweeted.

Cooper explained that her sibling 'started filming her because she refused to put her dog on a leash and he sensed she was going to go full on Karen. And she did.'

'Notice how her immediate response is to tell the cops an 'African American' man is 'threatening' her. She weaponized her tears & knows that the fastest way for cops to respond is to put her virtual white hood on. Disgusting and a reminder of Emmett Till. Nothing has changed,' one Twitter user noted.

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In the Ramble Central Park, New York City, dogs must be restrained between 9am and 9pm

A Manhattan DA candidate shared her opinion on the matter Monday after the video was shared online, and vowed to make sure Christian would not become yet another victim of the criminal justice system that has been criticized for disfavoring poor black Americans.

'This is serious. Happened today in Manhattan. As a public defender for over a decade, I have tried cases where the Manhattan DA uses a "hysterical 911 call" as categorical evidence of guilt. Usually there's no video like this to refute it,' Eliza Orlins explained.

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Christian Cooper's sister explained that her sibling 'started filming her because she refused to put her dog on a leash and he sensed she was going to go full on Karen. And she did'

'What happens: White lady calls the cops on Black man. Cops believe her. He gets arrested and then arraigned. Outrageous bail gets set. His family cannot afford to buy his freedom. He gets sent to Rikers Island, where he sits for any number of days, months, or years.

'Eventually the case resolves in some way--gets dismissed or he takes a plea to the charge or a lesser offense to get out because he's threatened with doing serious time. Meanwhile, he's potentially lost his job, his home, his children. Right now, it is even worse.

'People are sitting on Rikers Island on the basis of nothing more than an accusation (like in this video!) with the added risk of contracting COVID-19. So, we can call out these “Karens," but also we need a Manhattan DA who is committed to real reform. I will be that DA.' 

Her tweets evoked memories of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy killed in 1955 after Carolyn Donham accused him of assaulting her.

Specifically, the teenagers dubbed the Central Park Five experienced were wrongly accused of raping a white woman in the New York City park. They were convicted in 1990 and each served sentences from five years to 15 years before they were exonerated.

Social media users called for the woman in Monday's video to be fired. She is believed to be an employee of Franklin Templeton.

Viewers of the disturbing video also expressed concern online that the woman may have been choking the dog as she got hysterical.

The rescue shelter where she adopted the pet said she voluntarily returned the pooch on Monday.

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Manhattan DA candidate Eliza Orlins vowed to make sure Christian would not become yet another victim of the criminal justice system that had been criticized for disfavoring poor black Americans

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The woman in the video is believed to work at Franklin Templeton which issued a statement saying she has been placed on administrative leave

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The rescue shelter where the woman is believed to have adopted the dog from said she returned the pooch after social media users accused her of choking the dog