Black homebuyer tours Michigan cop’s house, finds KKK item, Confederate flags, he says

An African-American homebuyer touring a Michigan cop’s home says he found Ku Klux Klan memorabilia and Confederate flags inside the house.

Now the officer is suspended during an investigation by the city, officials said.

Rob Mathis said he and his wife had been house shopping for a month when they found what appeared to be the perfect fit, a Holton home they described as “beautiful,” according to a Facebook post. They went to the home with their realtor on Wednesday, Mathis said.

Their feelings quickly changed.

Mathis, his wife and the realtor entered the home owned by a Muskegon police officer and saw Confederate flags hung from the walls, the dining room table and in the garage, he said.

“I’m thinking to myself as a joke (that) I’m walking to the imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan‘s house right now,” Mathis said on Facebook.

Then he walked into a bedroom and found a Ku Klux Klan application hanging from the wall, Mathis said. A picture posted by Mathis shows a yellowing paper application behind glass in a wood frame. The document is titled “Application for Citizenship in the Invincible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.”

“I immediately stopped my walk-through and informed the realtor that I am not writing an offer on this home and I am leaving now,” Mathis wrote on Facebook.

City Manager Frank Peterson said the police officer is white and has been employed by the department for more than 20 years, according to MLive. The police officer declined to comment about the case, citing the ongoing investigation, MLive reported.

In a Facebook post, city officials said the police department has started an internal investigation “after a social media post was brought to our attention accusing an officer of being in possession of certain items associated with a white supremacy group.”

City officials said the police officer is on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The City of Muskegon requests your patience as we thoroughly investigate this issue,” officials said. “Further information will be available upon completion of the investigation.

Mathis had a message for the police officer.

“To the officer, I know who you are and I will be looking at resources to expose your prejudice,” Mathis wrote. “As for now, pictures speak 1,000 words.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Black homebuyer tours Michigan cop’s house, finds KKK item, Confederate flags, he says."