A police chief in Ohio has resigned after he was caught putting a KKK sign on the desk of a black police officer.
Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring said that Police Chief Anthony Campo resigned after more than three decades on the force on Tuesday after the incident last Friday, according to cleveland.com
Campo was captured on surveillance video with a piece of paper in his hand walking towards a desk with a yellow jacket resembling the robe and hood worn by the KKK.
Seconds later a black officer walked in, and sees the jacket with the piece of paper on top. He appeared to smile before speaking to Campo. It is unclear what the officer and Campo say to one another as the video has no audio.
Mayor Bring was notified of the incident on Tuesday by Sheffield Lake Law Director David Graves who became aware of the incident after a union representing police officers brought a harassment complaint to Graves’ office.
Bring said he told Campo he had “ten minutes” to get out of his office.
“I said ‘I don’t want to even hear about it.’ I said, you’ve already admitted to it and you’ve got 10 minutes to get out of this office. I said, I want your keys, your badge and that’s it. Get out,” Bring said.
He said Campo told him the offensive note was a prank.
“He thought this was just a joke,” Bring said. “How can you possibly think that you can put something on somebody’s jacket like that, and especially if they were African American, and think this is a joke? This is the most egregious and offensive thing you could possibly do. And it’s embarrassing and disgusting.”
