The Idaho deputy who mocked LeBron James in viral Tik Tok video was fired from his job
- The Idaho deputy who mocked Lebron James in a viral Tik Tok was terminated from his job.
- Officials cited policy violations as the reason for Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester's firing.
- The firing comes after he was suspended from his position for the Tik Tok video that has garnered millions of views.
The Idaho deputy who went viral for mocking Lebron James in a TikTok video was fired from Bellevue Marshal's Office.
Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns confirmed on social media that Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester was fired earlier this week.
"During the week of May 20th, while on shift Deputy Marshal Silvester violated several clearly established City of Bellevue and State of Idaho Policing policies," Mayor Burns said in a statement posted on Facebook on May 27. "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."
The statement cited violated policies as the cause for Silvester's firing. Burns said 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 continued. "The decision was solely made by the command structure within the Bellevue Marshals office and was not influenced in any way by me or by the City Council. We were informed of the decision, and as in the previous incident, left the final decision making to the Marshal and Deputy Marshal."
Silvester was previously suspended for making a TikTok video last month responding to LeBron James, who posted a tweet about Nicholas Reardon, the police officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Bryant multiple times in Columbus, Ohio. The shooting occurred just ahead of the verdict of Derek Chauvin, the former cop who killed George Floyd.
In a now-deleted tweet, James wrote: "YOU'RE NEXT" and "ACCOUNTABILITY" with a photo of Reardon. In the TikTok video, Silvester is seen dressed in his uniform pretends to call James on the phone to seek advice about a situation about a Black man who is stabbing another with a knife.
"So 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 said in the video, which has since garnered millions of views.
The Bellevue Marshal's Office condemned Silvester's video in an April 24 statement.
"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," the statement said. "This is NOT how we expect our Deputies to act on duty or use city time."
As Insider previously reported, Silvester signed a book deal with Di Angelo Publications and a GoFundMe created on his behalf by a friend has raised more than $500,000. The fundraiser appears to have been organized by someone named Gannon Ward, who claims in the description that Silvester's firing stemmed from the viral video.
"Unofficially, as I stated originally, Bellevue mayor Ned Burns has been gunning for Nate's termination since his Lebron James TikTok went viral," the description for the fundraiser said. "We have heard through the grapevine this is coming down the pipes, it was only a matter of time, and they were just looking for a reason to terminate him. "