A probe into the conduct of a Michigan police officer accused of having a framed Ku Klux Klan application in his home may lead to new investigation into a 10-year-old case in which the same officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man.
Charles Anderson was cleared of wrongdoing in the 2009 shooting after investigators found Julius Johnson used Anderson’s police radio and another object to beat him, according to Michigan’s largest news website MLive.
In an unrelated incident a decade later, Anderson was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday after a man looking to buy his house reported seeing the KKK application and Confederate flags inside Anderson’s home.
Related: Michigan Cop Exposed After Black Homebuyers Stumble Upon KKK Memorabilia In His Home, Gets Suspended
Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson told MLive the results of an internal investigation into Anderson will help Hilson in deciding whether to take another look at the 2009 case.
“Whether or not officer Anderson has racist tendencies or not, would that move the needle one way or another? I guess I can’t answer that question,” Hilson said. “I don’t know. I need a completed internal investigation.”
Hilson told MLive he would reopen investigation into any case Anderson was involved if it contained new evidence.
He has worked for Muskegon police for 20-plus years as a patrol officer, MLive reported.
“Certainly, I would say the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office does not tolerate either racist conduct or behavior,” Hilson said. “We will never tolerate it.”
Anderson has declined to comment to the media while the investigation is pending.
Robert Mathis said in a Facebook post Wednesday that he was touring Anderson’s home with his wife in the Holton area when he saw confederate flags on the walls, the dining room table and the garage.
“I’m thinking to myself as a joke, ‘I’m walking to the imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan‘s house right now,’” Mathis said. “So to my surprise as I walk into the bedroom there’s an application for the Ku Klux Klan in a frame on the wall and this home is an officer of the Muskegon Police Department!”
