Ohio officer files discrimination charge after KKK note on video
A Black police officer whose boss left a Ku Klux Klan notice on his coat is breaking his silence about alleged office harassment and is taking authorized motion in opposition to the police division the place he is nonetheless employed.
Attorneys for Keith Pool, an officer with the Sheffield Lake Police Division in Ohio, on Thursday introduced that they had filed a discrimination charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Fee and a petition with the state Supreme Court to compel the town to launch public information documenting the alleged harassment Pool confronted.
Surveillance video showed then-police Chief Anthony Campo, who’s white, on June 25 leaving a notice studying “Ku Klux Klan” on a jacket that was sitting on Pool’s desk. Campo resigned in July after the incident sparked an uproar within the northern Ohio metropolis.
For months, the identification of the officer was unknown — till Thursday.
“It was so demeaning that for a second I did not know the right way to react to it,” stated Pool, who has been in legislation enforcement for over 30 years, at a Thursday news conference. “I felt like I might been hit with a sledgehammer.”
No publicly obtainable phone numbers or social media accounts for Campo had been discovered to hunt his remark.
Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Carry told Cleveland.com in July that Campo stated the KKK notice was a prank.
“He thought this was only a joke,” Carry informed the outlet. “How are you going to probably assume you can put one thing on any person’s jacket like that, and particularly in the event that they had been African American, and assume it is a joke?”
Pool stated on the press convention that his nice uncle was killed by the KKK, contributing to the ache he skilled throughout the incident. He added that Campo has circuitously apologized to him.
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The complaint alleges Pool suffered racist harassment from Campo since he began working with the division in September 2020.
“Submitting this cost is step one in initiating a lawsuit,” stated legal professional Ashlie Case Sletvold, who added Pool was the primary Black officer within the police division’s historical past.
The incident was not the primary time Campo “did one thing racist,” Pool stated.
Different workers informed Pool that earlier than he was employed, Campo interfered along with his software and recruitment course of and known as him a racial slur, based on the criticism.
Pool additionally alleges Campo created racist pictures mocking him that he posted on division bulletin boards and confirmed to different workers. Campo additionally posted racist pictures of the division’s solely Latino officer by depicting his face as a part of a salsa emblem, based on the criticism.
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These occasions led as much as June 25, when Pool stated his former boss left a KKK notice over the “police” label of his coat after which made a KKK hat out of paper, wore it and informed Pool he ought to put on it throughout his subsequent service name, based on the criticism.
“It was offensive and humiliating past something I’ve skilled in my total profession,” Pool stated.
The criticism additionally alleges that a number of of Pool’s “superior officers” had been conscious of the harassment however didn’t deal with it.
Sletvold alleged senior metropolis officers had been conscious of Campo’s habits however didn’t cease him or present any coaching on applicable office habits.
Carry and the Metropolis of Sheffield Lake didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
“Officer Pool is a hero, a real public servant,” stated one in all Pool’s attorneys, Joseph Pfeiffer. “It is time that the town he serves will get on the proper aspect of historical past.”
Contributing: The Related Press. Contact Information Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or observe her on Twitter at @christinetfern.