An Idaho cop was suspended this week after a video of him poking fun at NBA star LeBron James went viral on TikTok.
Last week, after an officer killed a teenage girl wielding a knife to save the life of another black girl, James threatened the cop in a Twitter post that said “YOU’RE NEXT #accountablity.” It was after James quickly removed the tweet and then refused to apologize that Deputy Nate Silvester made a video mocking the Los Angeles Lakers player and pretending to ask him for advice on policing.
“Excuse me, could you please put the knife down, sir,” Silvester yelled before asking a fictional James “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?”
“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 continued.
The TikTok, which garnered more than 700,000 likes by Thursday afternoon prompted a public condemnation from the Bellevue Marshal’s Office which said it heard about the “extreme controversy” from people in the community who “took the time to reach out to us.”
@nateswildn #DoritosDuetRoulette #lebron #comedy #humanizethebadge #copsoftiktok #fypシ #foryou
“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 department said in a statement posted to Facebook.
While Silvester is still technically employed by the Marshal’s office, his best friend started a GoFundMe, which raised more than $92,000 in the first day, to rally support for the officer while he is suspended. A portion of the donations will be given to a charity for “families of fallen officers and first responders,” the fundraising website states.
