Idaho Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester has been fired by the Bellevue Marshal's Office according to Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns.  

Silvester had made a video mocking LeBron James’ posting a picture of a police officer present at the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting with a caption that read, “YOU’RE NEXT.”  

The video became an internet sensation.  In it Silvester pretends to be on the phone with James as he is witnessing an attempted stabbing.  Silvester says,  “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 says in the video.

“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.”  

LeBron James should be afforded the respect he has earned. He is often referred to as "The King." James obviously has a clearer view of what's happening.  He claims, "I don’t think a lot of people is educated."

Silvester’s video received millions of hits which earned him the ire of his employer, the Bellevue Marshal’s Office, who claimed that Silvester’s video had caused “extreme controversy.”  Sylvester was supposedly fired for "his continued policy violations." Mayor Burns does not explain what the policy violations are.   The mayor claims, “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.”  

He is then contradicted by the Bellevue Marshal’s Office: “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."  Nationally thousands of uniformed officers make obeisance to BLM and other progressive causes without penalty.  Perhaps Bellevue has stricter policies.  The Marshal Office wanted to thank "everyone that took the time to reach out to us. We greatly value our relationship within our wonderful community.”

Of course, this controversy originates with the death of George Floyd.  George Floyd has been described as a "hip hop artist."  The world has been deprived of this budding Beethoven.  His fellow Houston rapper Cal Wayne said "Floyd was a 'gentle giant' and well-known in Houston's rap culture as being a friendly guy."  He had some problems in Houston and had moved to Minneapolis to "turn his life around."  Like any cult figurehead, his minor blemishes have been scrubbed.  Mr. Nice Guy Floyd spent five years in prison for an armed robbery.  The Bellevue Union Chief, Bob Kroll wrote his followers on Twitter, “What is not being told is the violent criminal history of George Floyd. The media will not air this.”  The robbery does not reflect well on this nice guy image.  He allegedly broke into a woman's house.  According to the British Daily Mail, Floyd, "pressed a pistol to the pregnant woman's stomach and forced his way into the house." 

The Courier Daily reported that Floyd intended to start a peaceful life but the decision "to change" ended up costing his life.  Floyd's "change" does not appear to have been significant.  Attempting to pass counterfeit money, Fentanyl abuse and resisting arrest are not an indication of reform.  A teacher from Alaska’s Fairbanks school district was suspended for commenting on Floyd's death.  She told her student that Floyd would still have been alive if he had complied with Minneapolis police officers.  She also advised the students on how to dress to avoid trouble with the police. She insinuated that the students should not dress like “thugs" with their “pants around their knees" if they do not want to be targeted by cops.  This was considered “racially insensitive."

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing).  He has a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from St. Mary’s University.  He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.  He is featured on the BBC's program "Things We Forgot to Remember:" Morgenthau Plan and Post-War Germany.

Image: Screen shot from KTVB video, via shareable YouTube

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