I don’t know if you have seen this, but it is right on the money and funny.
https://videos.gunfreezone.net/videos/watch/f31300a4-6398-4ca0-8890-ca3ef61a6133
But in the Era of Cancel Culture and sheer terror to be branded racist and lose funding, his department suspended him.
An Idaho cop who mocked LeBron James in a viral Tik Tok video has been suspended without pay and is now under investigation, with many expecting him to lose his job.
The controversy started when Nate Silvester responded to the basketball star’s infamous deleted tweet where he wrote, “You’re next. #Accountability,” alongside a photo of Nicholas Reardon, the officer who shot Ma’Khia Bryant.
…Silvester’s own police department also wasted no time in throwing him under the bus.
“The Bellevue Marshal’s Office is aware of the extreme controversy regarding Deputy Marshal Silvester’s viral TikTok,” said a statement. “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.”
Cop Suspended Without Pay For Mocking LeBron James
But the Bellevue Marshal’s Office is getting burned in Social Media by tens of thousands calling them weak ass pussies in various levels of politeness.
Bellevue Marshal’s Office is in Idaho, not necessarily a Mecca of Wokenism. If Sheriff is an elected position, I believe a dead cat will beat the actual idiot when it comes election time.
‘Silvester for Sheriff’ will look awfully good on a lawn sign… and he’s already filmed his first commercial.
Contributing factor: When an officer is wearing the uniform, they are “officially” representing the department. (I do not know what specific policies this Sheriff’s office might have.) I am not surprised that some disciplinary action is being taken.
Dismissing this video as a harmless on-the-job prank because it is funny is on par with calling looting material re-distribution because the looter has dark color skin.
Break the rules, get the punishment. And, if the police force wants to be respected, they have to follow their own rules. As soon as the police decide to ignore the behavior of their officers, for any reason, they lose the authority to enforce rules on the population as a whole.
Let me be clear her. Basketball boy deserves all the ridicule he is getting and more because of numerous statements he made. And, had this officer made that video off the clock, and wearing civilian clothes, I would not be defending the Sheriff’s office in any way.
But, he chose to make a video, ridiculing a public figure, in uniform. I would be very surprised if that is not against policy, and carries penalties.
“ When an officer is wearing the uniform, they are “officially” representing the department.”
Bingo. This would be a nothing burger if he wasn’t in uniform. Same thing happened to Greg Anderson in Seattle when he made a video that questioned what the government was doing in regards to the WuPing Cough and why officers were standing by and letting it happen.
The department told him to take it down, he wouldn’t, they canned him. Almost the exact same reasoning, he did it in uniform/on-duty.
https://komonews.com/news/operation-crime-justice/port-of-settle-officer-losing-support-from-his-fellow-port-officers
And yet, the cop who used his own time and money to donate to a child who was nearly murdered by a pedophile and his accomplices (all of whom were felons) got fired.
Anyone who tries to justify this as ‘he deserved it because he did it in a uniform’ is just as much of a scumbag as the dickless weasels running that department.
*Edit ’cause I forgot to mention all those videos of on-duty cops ‘taking a knee’ in support of an organization of murderous terrorists and facing no punishment what-so-ever. Why, it’s almost as if all these “they broke the rules so we’re punishing them” events are entirely one-sided or something.
The punishment should be tailored to fit the offense. This is no more harmful than some other cop using his OfficerKupke@policedepartment.gov email address to send an e-card to his mother-in-law wishing her a Merry Christmas.
Tell him not to do it again, stick a letter of reprimand in his file, and maybe dock him a day’s pay. That’d be reasonable. Suspension is several orders of magnitude too harsh.
I agree.
However, the outage about the suspension generally ignores the rules violation. As if somehow making fun of lebron makes violating the rules OK.
I would guess there is a list of offenses and penalties, and suspension is likely a penalty for misrepresenting the department.
I don’t agree with it, but I understand the Sheriff’s office.
Agree. Where is the outrage, suspension, and general shaming when the Chief of a local police department shows up at the state legislature in full dress uniform, complete with five stars like a third world general, to tell us blood will run in the streets if Constitutional Carry is adopted.
On the one hand, pulling a stunt like this on duty and in uniform IS generally frowned upon. Public affairs offices are notoriously jealous of their power to “represent” the department, and they take great umbrage against anyone who steps out of line, to the point of frequently including clauses in employment agreements allowing them to string up anyone dares step out of line.
On the other hand, punishment SHOULD fit the offense. Suspension without pay pending a potential termination is way out of line, no matter what the employment agreement might say. This should be small potatoes.
Furthermore, while the officer did NOT have permission from the PAO of his department to post this, neither is this an inappropriate message. The law should not ever care what some sports ball dude’s opinion is; it should care what the law says (and what laws are in line with the constitutions of the United States and their own State).
If the sheriff had the cojones appropriate to whatever collar jewelry he wears to denote his office, instead of suspension without pay for incurring the wrath of PAO (which are notoriously lukewarm and lickspittle of the left’s outrage), he should have directed that PAO to edit and produce an official department statement about the law versus sports ball opinions and which one he and his department are sworn to uphold, using this deputy’s video as a base, and told whichever quisling in his department got their too-tight panties in a twist to fall in line or take a hike.
MAYBE an official letter of reprimand and/or “written counseling” to the officer to check with higher before doing this again, along with an invitation to officially contribute his thoughts to further controversies through proper channels.