Black officer targeted by police chief's "Ku Klux Klan" note files complaint and speaks publicly for first time: "It was offensive and humiliating"

A Black police officer has filed a discrimination charge against an Ohio police department whose chief was seen in a surveillance video putting a note saying "Ku Klux Klan" on the officer's jacket. Sheffield Lake Officer Keith Pool's  complaint alleges that the chief also interfered with the officer's job application and said "in the presence of multiple employees that he would never hire a n-----."

Attorneys for the officer said Thursday they discovered after the video was released this summer that the chief, who soon retired, had previously posted pictures of the officer and other employees on the Sheffield Lake Police Department's bulletin board that mocked their race, gender and religion.

The discrimination charge filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission is the first step toward filing a civil rights lawsuit, the attorneys said.