Cop unceremoniously fired after he mocked LeBron James — but a GoFundMe page for him amasses jaw-dropping amount in donations



Officer Nate Silvester says that he has been fired after a video of him mocking Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James went viral.

What's a very brief history here?

Silvester made headlines in April after sharing video of himself in uniform pretending to phone James for guidance on how to properly assist a fictional stabbing encounter in a mocked-up police call.

Silvester made the video in response to James' posting a photo of the officer involved in the police shooting of Ohio teen Ma'Khia Bryant and captioning it, "YOU'RE NEXT. #ACCOUNTABILITY."

Silvester, who worked for the Bellevue Marshal's Office in Idaho, was suspended shortly after the video emerged on the internet.

#Fired. Former Officer Nate Silvester loses job — and rakes in more than a half-million in GoFundMe donations.… https://t.co/noCWYCack1

— Sarah Taylor (@thesarahdtaylor) 1622218746.0

What are the details?

In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, Silvester said that he lost his job because of cancel culture.

"I am the latest target of cancel culture," he insisted. "That's all it is."

Silvester also told the Fox host that he was simply trying to "humanize the badge."

"None of my other videos that depicted me in my uniform or involving body camera footage, none of those mattered," he said. "They didn't care about those. It wasn't until my LeBron James TikTok struck a political nerve that they started to pay attention and complain about it and came up with forms of discipline."

Hannity, in response to Silvester's allegations, said that the former officer should "sue their asses off."

Silvester responded, "I am still trying to wrap my head around that. I was just fired this morning."

The former law enforcement official also said that he is considering continuing his career in law enforcement, and says that he's received offers "from different agencies and elected officials from across the country."

"It's not off the table," he insisted.

'Last chance agreement'

In a Facebook statement, Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns said that Silvester was fired on Thursday for "continued policy violations" after he was reportedly on a "last chance agreement" with superiors.

"The policy violations have nothing to do with the tone or tenor of his speech that he posts online," the post explained. "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."

The post continued, "The decision was solely made by the command structure within the Bellevue Marshals [sic] office and was not influenced in any way by me or by the City Council."

'Gunning for Nate's termination'

At the time of this writing, a GoFundMe page to benefit the newly unemployed police officer has received more than $530,000 — a total that continues to climb as the days go by.

On Thursday, Gannon Ward, the page's organizer, shared an update on Silvester's firing and wrote, "Unofficially, as I stated originally, Bellevue mayor Ned Burns has been gunning for Nate's termination since his Lebron James TikTok went viral. We have heard through the grape vine this is coming down the pipes, it was only a matter of time, and they were just looking for a reason to terminate him."

Officer who went viral for mocking LeBron James is suspended following complaints — but a GoFundMe to benefit him has drawn in nearly $200,000



The Idaho police officer who went viral after mocking NBA star LeBron James has reportedly been suspended following complaints.

James came under fire for posting a photo of the officer involved in the police shooting of Ohio teen Ma'Khia Bryant, captioning it, "YOU'RE NEXT. #ACCOUNTABILITY."

What's a brief history here?

Earlier this month, Officer Nate Silvester of the Bellevue Marshal's Office in Idaho turned heads with his impersonation of an officer phoning James for direction on how to handle a police call.

Silvester's satire naturally went viral and racked up millions of views across the internet.

As previously reported by Blaze Media:

In the video, Silvester can be seen arriving at a fictional scene and calling dispatch for advice.

"Dispatch, I've arrived at that disturbance," he says. "Will you have LeBron call my cellphone right away, please? Thank you."
While awaiting the call from "LeBron," Silvester can be heard telling an off-screen person to "put down that knife."

"Stop stabbing him," Silvester commands.

"LeBron" returns Silvester's call, and the officer says, "LeBron, hey, yeah, it's me again. Listen, I'm out here at this disturbance call, and there's a guy trying to stab another guy with a knife. What do you think I should do?"

After a pause in the fake conversation, Silvester asks, "Why does that matter?"

"OK, well, they're both black," he continues. "One guy is trying to stab another guy with a knife. Deadly force is completely justified."

After another pause, he adds, "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? I mean, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but then again, you're really good at basketball, so I guess I'll take your word for it."

He concludes the conversation, "Michael Jordan's the GOAT [greatest of all time]. I gotta go."

Silvester then turns to the fictional suspects and says, "Sorry, guys, you're on your own. Good luck."

A policeman calls LeBron for advice in hilarious viral video https://t.co/iQmLOKFXHr

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) 1619375540.0

What are the details?

Silvester recently appeared in a YouTube video, where he revealed that he was suspended following the original video.

The Bellevue Marshal's Office also issued a statement in response to the video.

"The Bellevue Marshal's Office is aware of the extreme controversy regarding Deputy Marshal Silvester's viral TikTok," the statement read. "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."

In his video, Silvester said that he was on break when he filmed the video and did not use city time to mock the NBA star.

Following his suspension, Silvester's best friend launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for any related loss of income that may have stemmed from the suspension.

At the time of this reporting, the page has received more than $193,000 in donations.

In the video, Silvester said that he plans to use the money to push back against the anti-police narrative in much of the media. He did not specify how he would make such an effort.

Please Help Officer Silvester & Other Families video updatewww.youtube.com