Idaho Police Officer Who Was Previously Suspended For Viral Video Mocking LeBron James is Fired, Mayor Asks For ‘Calm and Understanding’

Last month, we reported that a GoFundMe was launched after an Idaho police officer was suspended for making a TikTok that went viral mocking NBA superstar LeBron James’s deleted tweet threatening a Columbus, Ohio police officer.

In a Facebook post, the mayor of Bellevue, Idaho, Ned Burns, announced that the officer, Nate Silvester, has been terminated, effective today.

“We wish Mr. Silvester the best, and we ask for calm and understanding,” Burns said in the Facebook post.

The mayor claimed in the post that the firing was not due to the viral video, but rather due to subsequent policy violations while the Silvester was on probation and a “last chance agreement.”

Burns then suggested that “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.”

“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.

Burns further attempted to distance himself from the firing by explaining that “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. The City Council and I respect the way the Marshal runs her department, and we are supportive of the decision that was made in regards to consequences for not following policy.”

https://www.facebook.com/bellevueidaho83313/posts/1626337990890839

Facebook user Eric Heyward shared his thoughts on the mayor’s Facebook post about the firing in a popular response and said, “What a joke! Another hard working, life risking, life saving American being censored. So glad that an NBA player can threaten a cops life and continue on with his career, but a cop looses his job without a single threat made. This is what’s wrong with today’s America.”

Silvester’s friend, Gannon Ward, who organized the GoFundMe, which is still active, told The Gateway Pundit, “Nate has known since the LeBron James TikTock that his job was in jeopardy. He’s heard through the grapevine that the mayor was coming from his job, and wanted him fired. So really it was just a matter of time. Honestly, neither of us are that surprised it happened, just really upset that they were able to do something about it and blame something as trivial as using company equipment. Obviously we were really hoping it didn’t get to this point. But that’s why I started a go fund me in the first place.”

According to The Gateway Pundit, Ward noted that Bellevue, where he was an officer, “is literally one of the only blue towns in the entire state of Idaho” and added that “Nate and I were talking on the phone this morning, and our honest opinion is that this is all over politics. Just because he supports policing, and police force in general. Nothing he has done deserves getting fired over.”