Cop who lost job after mocking LeBron James is offered a new job during a live TV appearance
Nate Silvester, the former police officer who lost his job after he made a viral video mocking LeBron James, reportedly received a job offer during a live TV appearance, the Police Tribune reported on Thursday.
What's a brief history here?
Silvester — a former officer at the Bellevue Marshal's Office in Idaho — was fired after the video made rounds on the internet, having initially been suspended.
James came under fire in April after he posted a photo to Twitter featuring the officer involved in the police shooting of Ohio teen Ma'Khia Bryant. He captioned the officer's photo, "YOU'RE NEXT. #ACCOUNTABILITY."
Following James' tweet, Silvester made headlines with his impersonation of an officer phoning James for direction on how to handle a police call.
What are the details?
The outlet reported on Thursday that Silvester was offered a job at the Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Arizona during a recent interview with Newsmax's Chris Salcedo and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
Recalling his firing, Silvester said, "I was policing in a very liberal area, the city of Bellevue, Idaho. The mayor and city council members [are] registered Democrats, and they buy into this radicalism that's being pushed by the left and especially the anti-police narrative — they're buying into it totally."
He said that after the video went viral, city officials weren't happy and immediately began plotting his removal.
Lamb told Silvester that he'd be glad to give him a job at the sheriff's office and lauded Silvester's "guts" in standing up for what he believed.
"Nate was speaking truth," Lamb insisted. "Too many agencies across this country are afraid of cancel culture. They're afraid to let their people speak truth. We respect the First Amendment, even with our employees. All we ask is that they don't do anything to disparage the badge or anything illegal, immoral, or unethical."
Lamb added that he saw nothing wrong with Silvester's video.
"We're hiring, Nate," he added. "Come on down. We respect police in Arizona, especially in Pinal County. We're always looking for guys who aren't afraid to go out and do their job."
Following Silvester's unceremonious firing, a GoFundMe to benefit Silvester received more than $543,000 at the time of this reporting.
A portion of the donations has been earmarked for the First Responders Children's Foundation, according to the outlet.
Fired TikTok cop is offered a job by Sheriff live on Newsmax www.youtube.com