The Bellevue Marshal’s Office said it was internally addressing the issue involving an Idaho officer who posted a TikTok video mocking NBA star LeBron James for his comments about the use of force by police.
The Marshal’s office posted a statement on their Facebook page, which claimed that “The statements made do NOT represent the Bellevue Marshal’s Office.”
Their post also clarified: “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. “
The officer, Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester, posted the video on Tik Tok over the weekend. In the video, Silvester is in uniform and inside his police vehicle, pretending to be responding to a knife attack. Silvester then mockingly states, “Excuse me, could you please put the knife down, sir,” and then pretends to be talking to the NBA star on the phone, asking him for advice.
“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?” Silvester asked.
“I mean, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but then again, you are really good at basketball, so I guess I’ll take your word for it,” Silvester says sarcastically in his make-believe phone call to James.
CNN claims it’s unclear if Silvester was actually on duty at the time he recorded the video.
