Sheffield Lake Police Chief Anthony Campo, who has been with the department for 33 years and served as chief for eight, is seen in the video walking into a room with a piece of paper in his hand that says, “Ku Klux Klan.” He walks to a desk and places the note on a yellow jacket laid out to resemble the infamous hood and robe synonymous with the American hate group.
Campo then walked out of the room, apparently to wait for the black officer to come into the room.
The officer, who started working for the department nine months ago, walks in and sees the message. It is unclear what the officer and Campo say to one another as the video has no audio. Other people come into the frame and chat with the officer.
Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring said Campo told him it 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.”
Mayor Bring told Campo he had 10 minutes to get out of the office and that he was on administrative leave until further notice. He resigned effective immediately instead.
There’s little worthwhile to watch after the 3 minute mark.
