A Bellevue deputy was fired following controversy over a viral Tik Tok he posted while on duty.
In the video, former Deputy Marshal Silvester mocked NBA star LeBron James for a recently-deleted tweet in regards to the fatal Columbus, Ohio Police shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant. In the Tik Tok, Silvester pretended to be responding to a disturbance call where one man is stabbing another and "calls" James to see how he should respond to the situation.
“LeBron, hey, yeah, it’s me again. Listen, I got two guys fighting over here and one of them’s got a knife and wants to stab the other guy, What do you think I should do? Why does it matter what their race is? Alright well, they’re both black. OK, but he’s trying to stab the other guy. Deadly force is totally justified,” said Silvester in the video.
Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns announced Silvester violated several City of Bellevue and Idaho State Police policies while on duty. Silvester was already on "a last chance agreement" and was terminated due to "continued policy violations," Burns said in a statement.
The termination has 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 but because of policy violations, Burns said.
In the statement, Burns said:
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.
We wish Mr. Silvester the best, and we ask for calm and understanding.
