Sgt. Dan Charleston fired from Polk County Sheriff's Office

Linh Ta | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Dan Charleston controversies through the years Polk County Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Charleston has drawn attention over the years, most recently for posting offensive comments about Islam on Facebook. The sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation into those June 2017 comments.

A controversial Polk County sergeant has been fired, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Former Sgt. Dan Charleston was terminated from his job on Friday, according to the sheriff's office. Because of possible appeals or litigation, the sheriff's office declined to comment further.

But Charleston has faced a number of controversies during his time at the sheriff's office. Most recently, he was under internal investigation by the sheriff's office for Facebook posts made in early June regarding Islam, including one post that called the religion an "evil ideology."

One post showed a graphic that claimed to list "verses from the Quran that inspire terrorists." Charleston added his own comments to accompany the graphic, including: "No reasoning with this evil ideology," referring to Islam.

That post had been deleted as of Thursday morning, but another post on Charleston's Facebook was a quote claiming to warn about the "threat of Islam." The quote was attributed to Franklin Graham, a nationally known Christian evangelist.

Charleston, who ran for sheriff unsuccessfully twice, had a contentious history with his employer. In 2003, he was fired following accusations of troubling interactions with women. He was re-hired after a commission voiced skepticism. In 2012, he received a two-day suspension after a man died of heart failure alongside a road in Altoona. He later filed a lawsuit against Polk County Sheriff Bill McCarthy claiming he faced discrimination and retaliation at work after unsuccessfully running against him.