A white police chief in Ohio has retired after he was seen placing a note saying “Ku Klux Klan” and a jacket displayed in the KKK’s style on a black officer’s desk.

Anthony Campo was caught in CCTV footage and resigned from the force after Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring confronted him on Tuesday.

The police union representing the black officer filed a harassment complaint against Mr Campo and the mayor was alerted to the incident by the city law director.

Mr Campo has served in the force for 33 years
Image:
Mr Campo had served in the force for 33 years

The video shows Mr Campo and the officer talking briefly after he discovered the note and jacket on his desk.

Mr Bring said Mr Campo, a white male officer, told him it was a prank but Mr Bring described it as “embarrassing and disgusting”.

Mr Campo served as a Sheffield Lake police officer for three decades and was chief for the last eight.

The black officer has been with the department for less than 12 months.

More on Ohio

The mayor said he and the officer cried during a conversation about what happened.

“I apologised to him,” Mr Bring said. “This is not a mistake. This is something so egregious I can’t describe it.”

The officer filed a harassment complaint against Mr Campo, which is when the town's mayor was alerted
Image:
The officer filed a harassment complaint against Mr Campo, which is when the town’s mayor was alerted

Listen to Divided States on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Another KKK-related dismissal at a US police force occurred in 2019, when an officer in Michigan was fired from the Muskegon Police Department after a disciplinary hearing.

Charles Anderson, who is white, was placed on administrative leave after a prospective house buyer said he saw a framed KKK application and multiple Confederate flags at his home.

The police force opened an investigation into Mr Anderson and after a hearing he was sacked.

In 2009, Mr Anderson fatally shot a 23-year-old unarmed black man but was cleared in of any wrongdoing and the shooting was determined to be an act of self-defence.

You May Also Like

ISIS ‘Beatles’ member Alexanda Kotey to plead guilty

An alleged member of the ISIS group dubbed “The Beatles” is set…

Juror who threw Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction into doubt will not answer judge’s questions

The juror who threw Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction into doubt will…

As violent attacks rise, some Asians in the US say they are afraid to go out – others plan to move away

On the hilly streets around his home in the Anza Vista neighbourhood…

US coronavirus records continue to be broken – here are the hotspots

The United States has reported more than 58,000 new coronavirus cases on…