Social Michigan cop who had Confederate/KKK memorabilia in home is fired

[Lord Coke]

This is disgusting. This guy has a right to own whatever historical or political memorabilia he wants in his home. I hope the courts vindicate this man's free speech rights because there is something really wrong when the government gets to decide the political views of its employees.


https://www.foxnews.com/us/michigan...FY-M2q7FT3AhhBQmPJLhRTIEoZRtqHISGYG3-VjW3QkEc

A Michigan police officer who was put on leave after a potential homebuyer found Ku Klux Klan memorabilia in the officer's house was fired Thursday following an investigation.

Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson told MLive.com that Officer Charles Anderson had been let go following an inquiry and a disciplinary hearing.

Peterson said a redacted version of the inquiry report would be released to the public next week.

The investigation was prompted when Rob Mathis, who is black, and his wife were touring Peterson's home last month, with an eye toward a possible purchase. They reportedly found a framed KKK membership application hanging on a wall, along with Confederate flags.

ARIZONA TROOPER ARRESTED ON SEX-RELATED, KIDNAPPING AND FRAUD CHARGES: POLICE

“In the bedroom, right across … there was a plaque up there, all by itself," Mathis told a local news outlet.

Rob Mathis said he found a framed Ku Klux Klax application displayed in the home of Muskegon Police Officer Charles Anderson during a real estate tour. (Robert Mathis / via Facebook)

He described what he saw in a viral Facebook post that prompted city officials to look into the matter. The inquiry was intended to determine whether Anderson, who is white, violated city policy.

“Some questions arose that we’d like to have further answered," Muskegon Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis told city commissioners during an Aug. 27 meeting to announce the end of the inquiry. “But I can tell you this, after reviewing this -- and it was a quite lengthy investigation -- what you saw on social media pretty much stands the way it is."

“There was no smoking gun revealed to us or anything that shocked us," he added.

Anderson had been on the force since 1997. He was cleared of wrongdoing in the 2009 fatal shooting of an unarmed black man following an investigation.

A report by then-Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague found that Julius Johnson hit Anderson in the head with a police radio and "another blunt object" and noted that Anderson was forced to get a metal plate installed in his head.

Mathis said he was "glad the city was moving forward in a positive direction." He also said Anderson's firing would do little to change a police culture where officers protect each other and fail to hold one another accountable, MLive reported.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“There are other officers within the police force that have been to Anderson’s home and were well aware of the Confederate flags,” Mathis claimed. "[Officers who] contributed to that behavior, instead of saying we as a police force are supposed to have good attitudes when making decisions for our community.

“These KKK applications, flags, they’re not indicative of people who should protect and serve our community.”

UPDATE this is retaliation for a prior assault and the guy is a antique collector


https://fox17online.com/2019/09/23/...-of-investigation-into-officer-with-kkk-item/

MUSKEGON, Mich. — Muskegon has released its 421-page report in the investigation of a police officer who was fired after a KKK application was found inside his home.

Charles Anderson was terminated Sept. 12 after being placed on leave in August while the police department conducted an internal investigation into his conduct. The investigation started after a couple touring a home Anderson is trying to sell found the item hanging on a wall.

Robert and Reyna Mathis shared a photo of the KKK item to Facebook, which received thousands of shares and ultimately led to him being fired.

The report says Anderson was interviewed Aug. 13 about the KKK application and Confederate memorabilia found in the home. He claimed the Confederate items are part of an extensive “Dukes of Hazard” memorabilia collection, and his love for the show is the sole reason he has the items.

Anderson said he bought the KKK document about six years ago because he has a passion for U.S. history from the late 1800s to the 1960s, the report says. He described himself as an amateur historian and collector of antique items, which is why he bought and hung the document.

Anderson adamantly denied being a member of the Ku Klux Klan, according to the report.

Police interviewed Anderson’s realtor, who said she knew Anderson and his wife for 25 years and backed up his claim of being an avid antique collector. The realtor said she never received instructions on who to not sell the home to and never was told to not sell the home to people of color.

The Mathises’ realtor was also interviewed, and said she met up with the couple after the abruptly exited the home during the tour and heard the couple talking about Anderson being a police officer. The report says she asked the couple if they knew him and claims Robert Mathis said, “yeah we know him (or of him), we know who he is.”

Police records show Anderson and several encounters with Robert and Reyna Mathis dating back to 2008.

The couple denied having any memory of those interactions.

During a traffic stop in July 2008, Anderson pulled the couple over for speeding. An incident report referenced in the department’s investigation says Robert and Reyna Mathis got out of their vehicle during the stop, ultimately leading to Reyna Mathis striking Anderson in the face and eye.

She was arrested and ultimately pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer.

Anderson arrested Reyna Mathis again in October 2009 after she was allegedly involved in a bar fight in Muskegon. The city’s report says Anderson took her into custody on two outstanding warrants, but didn’t say anything further on the fight.

Anderson was also called to the couple’s home multiple times for domestic disputes. No charges were filed in any of the incidents.

Several performance reviews were included in the city’s report. In all of them, Anderson received high marks. He was referenced as “a good example for others to follow” and received compliments for his professionalism.

Anderson was placed on leave in two other instances during his career at the Muskegon Police Department, both for firing his service weapon. He was cleared of wrongdoing in both incidents.

Ultimately, Muskegon Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis decided to fire Anderson after the investigation and meetings with leaders in the faith-based social justice community.

In Lewis’ executive summary, he said they “have lost faith, confidence and trust in Officer Anderson.” He went on to say the leaders told him the city would go “wild” if Anderson was reinstated.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Why would any stand up police force want this piece of trash associated with them.

 

[Lord Coke]

Why would any stand up police force want this piece of trash associated with them.

Are you okay with the government while acting as an employer restricting what political views a person can hold? What if Trump fired all the democrats working for the federal government? Would you be okay with that?

 

[HockeyBjj]

Come on @Lord Coke. This isn't just having some cool war memorabilia that happened to be from the losing side of the Civil War. He framed and hung a kkk application in his home. That's messed up and definitely calls into doubt his integrity when dealing with members of the African American community

This is beyond just a confederate flag. I wouldn't want a cop with isis stuff hung on his wall either.

 

[Amerikuracana]

I don't like it because the slippery slope seems real. If he had has any real affiliation with the kkk, then I wouldn't mind, as the oaths are too incompatible.

But yeah, this is bad precedent.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Are you okay with the government while acting as an employer restricting what political views a person can hold? What if Trump fired all the democrats working for the federal government? Would you be okay with that?

Liking the KKK is political views now? This just shows what a trash person you are as well.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Meanwhile, Ralph Northam is still governor

...or should I say "coon man."

 

[Confucamus]

Thinking legally, this officer's associations could put court cases against criminals he nabbed at risk if a good defense team could assert that his bias played a role in an arrest. Now, I believe in free speech. As ass backwards and ignorant as his beliefs are, he's allowed to have them and if he was openly spouting his beliefs in public or on social media, then he should be fired. But if he just had this material in his home, that could set a really bad precedent.

Either way, I wouldn't mind if this cop got fired. It's kinda fucked how it played out, but I don't really respect anybody who follows the ideal of a racist hate group, be it KKK or BLM, if you're an extremist you have no place in law enforcement.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Liking the KKK is political views now? This just shows what a trash person you are as well.

 

[Crocop42]

Thinking legally, this officer's associations could put court cases against criminals he nabbed at risk if a good defense team could assert that his bias played a role in an arrest. Now, I believe in free speech. As ass backwards and ignorant as his beliefs are, he's allowed to have them and if he was openly spouting his beliefs in public or on social media, then he should be fired. But if he just had this material in his home, that could set a really bad precedent.

Either way, I wouldn't mind if this cop got fired. It's kinda fucked how it played out, but I don't really respect anybody who follows the ideal of a racist hate group, be it KKK or BLM, if you're an extremist you have no place in law enforcement.

I gotta agree with you here. All of his arrests and summonses are now put into question.

 

[Lord Coke]

Come on @Lord Coke. This isn't just having some cool war memorabilia that happened to be from the losing side of the Civil War. He framed and hung a kkk application in his home. That's messed up and definitely calls into doubt his integrity when dealing with members of the African American community

This is beyond just a confederate flag. I wouldn't want a cop with isis stuff hung on his wall either.

If it came into his work at all I'd be fine with him being fired. But this is in his own house. Remember the government is the biggest employer in this country. If they are allowed to determine what political views are allowed well that is not a good thing. I personally would not think having an ISIS flag alone should be grounds to terminate a government employee as well.

Government has a dual role as an employer and the State. It has way to much power to be allowed to decide outside of the scope of employment what views its employees may hold because now it is going from its role as an employer to that of the state.

 

[58miles]

Meanwhile, Ralph Northam is still governor

...or should I say "coon man."

Save the bullshit, almost every influential Democrat in Virginia and nationwide asked Northam to resign, he instead decided to remain in office.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Save the bullshit, almost every influential Democrat in Virginia and nationwide asked Northam to resign, he instead decided to remain in office.

Until the two people beneath him were embroiled in scandal and would have been replaced by a Republican. Then they said "stay coon man, stay!"

 

[JamesRussler]

I think he should be given his job back, with an apology and a million dollars. The man just likes historical stuff.

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

Maybe he just liked the music.

You gotta admit...it's catchy.

 

[VivaRevolution]

Why would any stand up police force want this piece of trash associated with them.

Where is the evidence this guy is a racist and not a history buff?

 

[VivaRevolution]

This is disgusting. This guy has a right to own whatever historical or political memorabilia he wants in his home. I hope the courts vindicate this man's free speech rights because there is something really wrong when the government gets to decide the political views of its employees.


https://www.foxnews.com/us/michigan...FY-M2q7FT3AhhBQmPJLhRTIEoZRtqHISGYG3-VjW3QkEc

I am outraged if this is all there is to it.

If there was some accompanying testimony saying this guy was a racist, I don't have a problem with this.

Although, again we need more information. Did this guy have a WWII, and civil war history collection, or just Nazi and KKK stuff?

 

[VivaRevolution]

Come on @Lord Coke. This isn't just having some cool war memorabilia that happened to be from the losing side of the Civil War. He framed and hung a kkk application in his home. That's messed up and definitely calls into doubt his integrity when dealing with members of the African American community

This is beyond just a confederate flag. I wouldn't want a cop with isis stuff hung on his wall either.

Wait, his application to the KKK, or a old application to the KKK?

I wouldn't care if a guy who clearly studies and collects religious history had ISIS stuff hung on his wall.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Where is the evidence this guy is a racist and not a history buff?

I would imagine his KKK stuff is a dead giveaway.

 

[Trotsky]

Hahahaha, @Lord Coke I have to assume you are familiar with the constitutional history of loyalty oaths and purging public employees whose political beliefs supposedly pose a clear and present danger to government interests.

Being a member of the Communist Party is still a fireable offense for public employees, and you think that it's unacceptable that officers of the law who deal with racial minorities and are expected and constitutionally required to treat them equally can be fired for being white supremacists? There are few government interests higher than law and order and the ability for persons to respect and trust the good faith enforcement of the law. Having KKK cops is a flagrant affront to that interest.