A Michigan police officer was placed on administrative leave after Ku Klux Klan memorabilia and Confederate flags were discovered while a prospective buyer was touring his home.
Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson said officer Charles Anderson, a white man, is indefinitely on leave pending an investigation.
Rob Mathis, who is black, wrote in a Facebook post that he and his wife found Confederate flags in Anderson’s home and a framed “application for citizenship” of the Ku Klux Klan on a wall during their tour of the house.
“Today we were looking at a house in Holton that we both agreed would be perfect,” Mathis wrote on Aug. 7.
Mathis initially joked to himself that he was “walking to the imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan’s house.” But as he continued, he found the framed Ku Klux Klan application and immediately stopped the tour and informed the realtor that he would not be writing an offer for the home.
“I feel sick to my stomach knowing that I walk to the home of one of the most racist people in Muskegon hiding behind his uniform and possibly harassing people of color and different nationalities,” he wrote. “I’ve thought about this for a few hours now and I thought I would just share with you a picture of the application on the wall. To the officer, I know who you are and I will be looking at resources to expose your prejudice. As for now pictures speak 1000 words.”
Anderson has been with the Muskegon police force for more than 20 years, according to the Detroit Free Press.
He was cleared of wrongdoing and justified in using deadly force in the 2009 shooting death of 23-year-old African American man Julius Johnson. Anderson “was severely beaten in the head and said he feared for his life when he pulled the trigger,” according to a report.
