MUSKEGON, MI – Muskegon Police Officer Charles Anderson has been terminated from the Muskegon Police Department following an inquiry into racist memorabilia found in his home for sale.

Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson on Thursday, Sept. 12, confirmed with MLive/Muskegon Chronicle that Anderson was terminated Thursday after a disciplinary hearing that concluded around 3 p.m.

Peterson said the city would not say much more on the matter but he did say a redacted version of the inquiry report would be released to the public sometime next week.

Anderson could not be reached for comment. No one answered the door at his Holton area home Thursday afternoon.

Anderson’s firing followed a month-long inquiry after an African American man reported seeing several Confederate flags and a framed, vintage and unsigned KKK application in Anderson’s home during a real estate tour.

The man, Rob Mathis, first described what he found in a Facebook post.

Muskegon Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis announced on Aug. 27 that his department completed the inquiry and that an executive summary would be provided to City Manager Frank Peterson, the Muskegon City Commission and the city’s attorney, John Schrier of Parmenter Law, as soon as it was done.

Muskegon officials began the inquiry after Muskegon resident Rob Mathis, who was searching for a home to buy, said he saw the Confederate flags and KKK application during a real estate tour of Anderson’s Holton Township home. The inquiry was meant to determine if Anderson, who is white, violated any city policies.

Lewis gave few other details to commissioners at the meeting but did say that his department found no “smoking gun.”

“Some questions arose that we’d like to have further answered," Lewis said. “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,” Lewis told commissioners on Aug. 27. “There was no smoking gun revealed to us or anything that shocked us.”

Commissioners met in a closed session Tuesday, Sept. 10, to discuss personnel matters. A follow-up meeting was held on Thursday, Sept. 12, and a resolution to Anderson’s case was finalized later that day.

Anderson had served on the Muskegon police force since 1997.

A decade ago, Anderson was cleared of wrongdoing in the 2009 shooting of an unarmed black man, who, an investigation found, used Anderson’s police radio and another object to severely beat Anderson.

Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson earlier told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle that he will wait for the results of the city’s inquiry before he decides whether to reevaluate the 2009 shooting.

Several activists and community members demanded swift action, an apology and a lengthy review of Anderson’s interactions with people of color.

Such a review would include another look at the 2009 shooting of Julius Johnson, whom former Prosecutor Tony Tague said was shot by Anderson in self-defense.

Mathis on Thursday told MLive/Muskegon Chronicle that he was “glad the city was moving forward in a positive direction.”

He also wanted to thank those who supported he and his wife, Reyna, throughout the ordeal.

“Thank you to everyone who spoke to us and told us everything was going to be alright,” Mathis said. “Who told us we were fighting the good fight and doing the right thing through these difficult times.”

However, Mathis did say that Anderson’s firing will, in his opinion, do little to change what he perceives as a culture of officers protecting each other and not holding each other accountable.

“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.”