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Judi Lynn

(160,213 posts)
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 09:23 PM Sep 2019

Michigan Police Officer Is Terminated After K.K.K. Application Was Found in His Home

Source: Associated Press

A prospective homebuyer found Confederate flags and a framed Ku Klux Klan application in the officer’s house in Holton, Mich.



Officer Charles Anderson of the Muskegon Police Department in Michigan was terminated on Thursday.CreditCreditKayla Renie/Muskegon Chronicle, via Associated Press

By Mariel Padilla
Sept. 13, 2019, 8:50 p.m. ET

A police officer in Michigan was terminated on Thursday after a prospective homebuyer who had been touring the officer’s house posted a picture on social media of a framed Ku Klux Klan application he had seen there, spurring an internal investigation.

Frank Peterson, the city manager of Muskegon, confirmed on Friday that the officer, Charles Anderson, had been terminated, but said a report on the inquiry conducted by the Muskegon Police Department would not be released until next week.

The city announced on Aug. 8 that Officer Anderson, who is white and had been with the department for more than two decades, had been placed on administrative leave after he was found “in possession of certain items associated with a white supremacist group.” That announcement came one day after Rob Mathis, the prospective homebuyer, posted on Facebook the photo of the application, which is blank.

Although details of the investigation have not been released, Jeffrey Lewis, chief of the Police Department and Muskegon’s director of public safety, told the city’s commissioners on Aug. 27, “What you saw on social media is pretty much the way it is.”

. . .

Mr. Mathis, 52, an Army veteran who is black, said that the picture he had posted on Facebook of the K.K.K. application had drawn hundreds of messages, some supporting what he had done and others condemning or threatening him. He also said that the police had warned him about a death threat.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/us/officer-charles-anderson-ku-klux-klan.html

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Michigan Police Officer Is Terminated After K.K.K. Application Was Found in His Home (Original Post) Judi Lynn Sep 2019 OP
Two decades this man has been a cop Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #1
It was back in the 80's I think that someone found a bunch of KKK clothing and artifacts yaesu Sep 2019 #3
the town has one gas station, one mini grocery store and no traffic lights yaesu Sep 2019 #2
What town are you referring to? Muskegon has almost 40,000 people. catbyte Sep 2019 #20
Holton, the cops home, nt yaesu Sep 2019 #21
For a criminal, he's very dumb! If you're selling your house, wouldn't you make sure to remove from napi21 Sep 2019 #4
He was fired not convicted of a crime. Lochloosa Sep 2019 #5
I realize that, but in my mind, if you belong to the Klan, you are a nenber of a criminal napi21 Sep 2019 #6
The application was not filled out. It was framed and hanging on the wall. Lochloosa Sep 2019 #7
Upstairs of the quakerboy Sep 2019 #10
That's damning enough. Don't need it to be filled out to understand why the app was hung up. onetexan Sep 2019 #26
I have Soviet-era stuff on my walls. Igel Sep 2019 #8
Yeah.. totaly innocent quakerboy Sep 2019 #9
So are you implying hat this was some innocent historical collection? Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #14
I'm not too sure about this one either. LuvNewcastle Sep 2019 #25
" I have a problem with people being penalized for items hanging on the walls of their own homes." Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #29
It would be one thing if the application was filled out LuvNewcastle Sep 2019 #31
Confederate flags all over the house and a framed KKK application on the wall Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #32
No Klan crap, but there's technically a confederate flag in my home Polybius Sep 2019 #11
Seriously? Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #13
Really disappointed at all the DU'ers trying to make light of this Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #12
Riding the bus in San Mateo last week Grokenstein Sep 2019 #15
When does this stuff enter into the realm of "thought crime?" 3Hotdogs Sep 2019 #16
You answered your own question. yardwork Sep 2019 #17
So, he gets desk duty or parking meter duty. 3Hotdogs Sep 2019 #18
He can't be an officer in the department if the public can't trust him. yardwork Sep 2019 #19
No, he gets fired. Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #24
The KKK is responsible for thousands of deaths, assaults, acts of terror Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #23
I think this ex-cop will sue the state and probably win. JustABozoOnThisBus Sep 2019 #22
And I'm guessing you are flat out wrong. n/t Downtown Hound Sep 2019 #30
This message was self-deleted by its author Progressive Jones Sep 2019 #27
wonder how long hed been a member of the u know what AllaN01Bear Sep 2019 #28
The public knows the man put these items up in proud display in his home so any claim to objectivity TeamPooka Sep 2019 #33

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
1. Two decades this man has been a cop
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 09:27 PM
Sep 2019

And no doubt the police would have us believe, that in all that time, NO ONE ever noticed a thing that might be...off.

yaesu

(8,020 posts)
3. It was back in the 80's I think that someone found a bunch of KKK clothing and artifacts
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 09:38 PM
Sep 2019

in an attic of a Holton home, dated from the 20's or 30's, they auctioned the stuff off and that caused quite a stir at the time.

yaesu

(8,020 posts)
2. the town has one gas station, one mini grocery store and no traffic lights
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 09:32 PM
Sep 2019

I drive through it a few times a week. Its one of many dying little towns in MI.

catbyte

(34,169 posts)
20. What town are you referring to? Muskegon has almost 40,000 people.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 10:36 AM
Sep 2019

I lived about 30 miles away from it for over 30 years.

napi21

(45,806 posts)
4. For a criminal, he's very dumb! If you're selling your house, wouldn't you make sure to remove from
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 09:49 PM
Sep 2019

sight any objects that would get you into hot water? Thank goodness for Rob Mathis posting this info on social media and exposed this cop. Makes me wonder how many others like Anderson (or worse) are hiding their memberships in white supremacist groups, and what kind of jobs they hold. Are any in positions of authority where they can take their hatred out on black employees or customers?

napi21

(45,806 posts)
6. I realize that, but in my mind, if you belong to the Klan, you are a nenber of a criminal
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 10:00 PM
Sep 2019

organization, and as such, a partner in criminal actions..

onetexan

(12,994 posts)
26. That's damning enough. Don't need it to be filled out to understand why the app was hung up.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 07:11 PM
Sep 2019

I'm sure if the police department dug into it they will have found evidence of his participation in the local KKK chapters.

Igel

(35,191 posts)
8. I have Soviet-era stuff on my walls.
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 10:06 PM
Sep 2019

Sorts of things you'd get as a prize for being a good Communist.

And let's not get into either the red/white/black poster above my printer, "Klinom krasnym bei belykh" (Beat the whites with the red wedge"--a reference to the White and Red Armies, nothing racial), or the "Krasnoi armii--slava!" poster above that. Or the picture taken at Gatlinburg, TN, with friends in the '80s, the now out gay Frenchman in his Confederate infantry uniform or a (now dead) friend and me in Confederate officers' uniforms, with our mutual friend in a suitable lady's dress. I'm no more a Confederate sympathizer than I am a supporter of Leninist-Stalinist scientific Marxism.

While there are people more anti-Soviet than me, I'm pretty out there. That hasn't kept people from accusing me of being pro-Soviet and Communist. I also have a cheap Russian icon propped up on the wall; my version of Jesus is very much not the Orthodox version, but I've been asked if I'm Orthodox, and it certainly clashes with the Soviet kitsch. Of course, I can deny that I'm the things I'm not, but that seldom dissuades anybody from being fervently wrong. After all, the evidence is iron-clad. Meh.

The KKK application was blank, old, framed, and hanging on the wall. Not filled out and waiting in a stamped envelope. More iron-clad evidence.

quakerboy

(13,901 posts)
9. Yeah.. totaly innocent
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 11:14 PM
Sep 2019

“The first thing I noticed walking through the dining room was a Confederate flag placemat on the table,”

Plus two confederate flags in the garage. And then the framed KKK application upstairs.

Ima trust the black man who walked into the house when he says “I walked into the most racist home I’ve ever been in in my life,” to know the difference between historical/collector pieces and.. a racist decorating his home accordingly.

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
14. So are you implying hat this was some innocent historical collection?
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 12:21 AM
Sep 2019

Because normally, I would say I want some of what you're smoking, but I don't really want anything that's going to make me that obtuse.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
25. I'm not too sure about this one either.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 06:18 PM
Sep 2019

I have a problem with people being penalized for items hanging on the walls of their own homes. I’m guessing that the guy didn’t want to fight over this shit while he’s so close to retirement, but this case is not clear-cut and should ordinarily be dropped.

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
29. " I have a problem with people being penalized for items hanging on the walls of their own homes."
Sun Sep 15, 2019, 10:43 AM
Sep 2019

Well, that's your problem. I have a problem with terrorist Klan sympathizers in positions of power over others. I don't know you, but if I had to guess, I'm guessing you're not African American or Jewish. Would that be correct?

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
31. It would be one thing if the application was filled out
Sun Sep 15, 2019, 12:29 PM
Sep 2019

or if it was some sort of membership agreement instead, but it looks like it could be part of a display about racist groups. Seems like the application would have been filled out, otherwise. If they researched the guy as a result of all this and found him guilty, that’s fine, I’m just saying I don’t think the guy should be fired simply for having those things in his house.

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
32. Confederate flags all over the house and a framed KKK application on the wall
Sun Sep 15, 2019, 12:50 PM
Sep 2019

If you want to lie to yourself and pretend that's all some innocent collection, that's your business. The rest of us have to live in reality. And given that you ducked my question about being African American or Jewish, I'm guessing that means you're not.

How easy it must be for you then, to not a give a shit about the potential consequences for those minority groups by allowing this man to walk around with a badge. While at the same time expressing sincere worry about this man civil rights being violated over his collection of racist displays. Hmmm...let me guess, you probably don't think there's such a thing as white privilege either?

Polybius

(15,238 posts)
11. No Klan crap, but there's technically a confederate flag in my home
Fri Sep 13, 2019, 11:26 PM
Sep 2019

I have the old General Lee car from the Dukes of Hazzard from when I was a kid. Could I be fired if someone were to see it?

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
12. Really disappointed at all the DU'ers trying to make light of this
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 12:14 AM
Sep 2019

and portray it as nothing more than a harmless hobby. Y'all need to seriously reexamine your so-called liberal credentials.

Grokenstein

(5,707 posts)
15. Riding the bus in San Mateo last week
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 12:50 AM
Sep 2019

...and there's a clown who looks just like this one muttering quietly in the back. Gradually, his mutterings become clearer: "Get off the bus, n****r. Get off the bus, n****r." There's only one black person on the bus and he's sitting well ahead of me, apparently (and hopefully) oblivious to this particular instance of racist-asshole insanity.

Bus stops. Fit young black man gets on, just happens to sit on the back row across from the clown. CLOWN IMMEDIATELY GOES SILENT. NATURALLY. Clown gets off at the next stop, and I LOL at the clown as he scurries past me. How many times does he change buses to get where he could easily take one if he weren't such a paranoid racist asshole?

3Hotdogs

(12,207 posts)
16. When does this stuff enter into the realm of "thought crime?"
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 07:31 AM
Sep 2019

A teacher in N.J. has his license threatened because he used the "N" word, under his breath, after a frustrating encounter with students.

The board of ed sued and lost at the state level. They are appealing.


Are there indications the cops job performance was hindered by his beliefs?

KKK is odious but illegal?

I would argue, however, the cop is now useless as a witness in a court, against a black defendant.

yardwork

(61,413 posts)
17. You answered your own question.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 08:11 AM
Sep 2019

Every job has certain requirements. A cop who can't testify in court can't do his job.

yardwork

(61,413 posts)
19. He can't be an officer in the department if the public can't trust him.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 08:14 AM
Sep 2019

Racial bias disqualifies him. He knew that when he was hired.

Downtown Hound

(12,618 posts)
23. The KKK is responsible for thousands of deaths, assaults, acts of terror
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 05:58 PM
Sep 2019

and torture. It has murdered children. It may not have an official designation as a domestic terror group, but you can thank good old fashioned racism and white privilege for that, because they should be. So the answer to your question is, never. This is way beyond thought crime. This is about someone who has the power of life and liberty over others being a sympathizer of a terrorist group. That is not okay. Not now, not ever. Instant disqualification. No if's, and's, or buts about it.

And as for the teacher having his license threatened for using the "N" word under his breath as you put it, good. No excuse for that either.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,282 posts)
22. I think this ex-cop will sue the state and probably win.
Sat Sep 14, 2019, 10:52 AM
Sep 2019

I don't see that he committed any crime, or posted anything hateful or offensive on social media. He had some stuff in his house.

Perhaps the case could be made against the prospective home-buyer, Mr Mathis, who did post hateful stuff on Facebook.

I bet Officer Anderson will enjoy a prosperous retirement.

Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)

TeamPooka

(24,155 posts)
33. The public knows the man put these items up in proud display in his home so any claim to objectivity
Sun Sep 15, 2019, 04:36 PM
Sep 2019

in the name of justice to the public he serves has been lost by him and as such he has no value to this police department.

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