Ohio Police Chief Out After KKK Sign Put On Black Officer's Desk

SHEFFIELD LAKE, OH — An Ohio police chief resigned this week after surveillance video captured him placing a Ku Klux Klan sign on a Black coworker's desk, according to reports.

Anthony Campo, the chief of police in Sheffield Lake, stepped down Tuesday, Mayor Dennis Bring told Cleveland.com. According to Bring, Campo told him the note, which was placed on the officer's raincoat, was meant to be a "prank."

"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?" Bring told Cleveland.com. "This is the most egregious and offensive thing you could possibly do. And it’s embarrassing and disgusting."

Campo had been a Sheffield Lake police officer for 33 years and served as chief for the last eight, Columbus-based WBSN reported. The Black officer has been with the department less than a year.

Union officials reportedly filed a harassment complaint after the officer found the note, WBSN reported.

Bring also told Cleveland.com that when he went to Campo's office after receiving the complaint. Campo reportedly was "standing there with a smile on his face.

"He goes, ‘So, am I fired?'" Bring said, referring to what Campo said.

Instead of being placed on administrative leave, Campo opted to resign.

Bring met with the Black officer this week to apologize, Cleveland-based 3News reported.

"It took us 10 minutes to even talk to each other because we were both so emotional,” he told the television station. “I apologized. We talked about it and as we did, he told me more about it. I was flabbergasted. There's no one word to explain how disgusting this is."