Ohio police chief resigns after putting KKK sign on Black officer’s desk

A police chief in Ohio resigned this week after he put a Klu Klux Klan (KKK) sign on a Black officer’s desk.

Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring said that Police Chief Anthony Campo resigned Tuesday after the incident, which occurred last Friday, according to cleveland.com

Surveillance footage of the incident was published by a local ABC affiliate, though the footage has no audio.

Campo, who has a piece of paper in his hand, is seen walking toward a desk that has a yellow jacket on it. He then picks up the jacket, appears to turn it around and place it back on the desk.

About a minute into the video, Campo steps away from the desk and goes back into another area. The jacket is seen with the hood up, resembling the infamous KKK hood, and the paper is seen on top of it.

Roughly 30 seconds later, the officer, who is Black, walks in to see the jacket and sign on the desk.

According WKYC Channel 3, Bring was notified of the incident Tuesday by the union representing police officers. 

He said after learning of the incident, he told Campo he had “10 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.

The mayor also said he apologized to the officer for the incident.

“There’s no one word to explain how disgusting this is,” Bring told the news outlet.

Campo told the news outlet that he was not fired, but that he had retired.

He further said that he had respect for the officer that was targeted and that the incident was “overblown.”