Bellevue deputy marshal Nate Silvester is a Bellevue deputy marshal no more.
What started as a week of unpaid leave, according to Silvester, for what city officials and the Bellevue Marshal’s Office deemed inappropriate behavior while on duty has turned into full-on termination. Silvester is the local officer who has gone viral on social media for his takes on policing, one of the most recent being the racially charged video wherein he fictionally calls NBA star LeBron James to get advice on how to handle a violent assault involving two people who are black, one of whom is wielding a knife at the other.
A GoFundMe campaign was established after Silvester’s leave was made official, yielding well over $500,000. Silvester has said some of the funds will go to a first-responders charity.
What follows is a statement made by Bellevue mayor Ned Burns and obtained by “Wood River Weekly.”
During the week of May 20th, while on shift Deputy Marshal Silvester violated several clearly established City of Bellevue and State of Idaho policing policies. After his previous policy violations Deputy Marshal Silvester was placed on probation and was on what is called a “last chance agreement” with his superior officers. Because of his continued policy violations, the Marshal has terminated Mr. Sylvester effective May 27th, 2021.
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 decision was solely made by the command structure within the Bellevue Marshal’s 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.
