An Idaho police officer who became an internet sensation after mocking LeBron James for a tweet targeting an Ohio cop has been fired.
The announcement comes via a statement posted by the mayor of Bellevue to Facebook on Thursday.
“During the week of May 20th, while on shift Deputy Marshal [Nate] Silvester violated several clearly established City of Bellevue and State of Idaho Policing policies,” Mayor Ned Burns wrote. “After his previous policy violations Deputy Marshal Silvester was placed on probation and was on, what is called, a ‘last chance agreement’ with his superior officers.”
Burns continued, “Because of his continued policy violations, the Marshal has terminated Mr. Sylvester effective May 27th, 2021.
“The policy violations have nothing to do with the tone or the tenor of his speech that he posts online. He was not terminated for the content of his speech; he was terminated for his failure to follow clearly laid out and well established policy,” Burns explained.
Burns does not, however, explain what that policy is.
LeBron James came under intense fire in April after posting a pic of a police officer present at the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting with a caption that read, “YOU’RE NEXT.”
In response to James’ completely reckless and factually inaccurate post, several police officers began posting videos having great fun at “The King’s” expense, among them, Nate Sylvester.
“You don’t care if a Black person kills another Black person, but you do care if a white cop kills a Black person, even if he’s doing it to save the life of another Black person?” Silvester says in the video. “I mean it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but then again, you are really good at basketball, so I guess I’ll take your word for it.”
Silvester’s video gained millions of views but also earned him the ire of his employer, the Bellevue Marshal’s Office, who claimed that Silvester’s video had caused “extreme controversy.”
“The Bellevue Marshal’s Office is aware of the extreme controversy regarding Deputy Marshal Silvester’s viral TikTok,” the agency wrote. “The statements made do NOT represent the Bellevue Marshal’s Office. The Bellevue Marshal’s Office always demands that our Deputies engage with our citizens in a friendly and professional manner. This is NOT how we expect our Deputies to act on duty or use city time. This is a personnel issue that is being dealt with internally.
The Bellevue Marshal’s Office called Silvester’s video a “personnel issue” that was being “dealt with internally.”