{"id":15957,"date":"2021-05-05T02:43:22","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T02:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=15957"},"modified":"2021-05-05T19:26:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T19:26:40","slug":"a-tiktok-jackpot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/05\/a-tiktok-jackpot\/","title":{"rendered":"A TikTok Jackpot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bellevue deputy marshal facing scrutiny for LeBron James video sees GoFundMe windfall<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
A GoFundMe effort in support of Nate Silvester broke the $438,000 mark by Tuesday afternoon. Photo credit: GoFundMe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bellevue Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester\u2019s viral TikTok video, wherein he pretends to ask for LeBron James\u2019 advice on how to handle an altercation between a black male attacking another black male with a knife, made national news and controversy last week. But this week it\u2019s making him a lot of money, too.<\/p>\n

As with many controversial matters wherein someone could lose their job, supporters have been contributing to a GoFundMe page launched late last week by Gannon Ward of Sandy City, Utah. Ward, who states that Silvester is his \u201cbest friend in the world,\u201d has set a goal of raising $500,000 for the deputy marshal. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still got his job for now, but apparently the town where he polices didn\u2019t find his TikTok as amazingly comical, and accurate, as the 4.5 million viewers did, including some major news networks,\u201d wrote Ward on the GoFundMe page. \u201cThe future is uncertain. I just don\u2019t want to see my friend lose out on any money for this, when it was meant to be satirical, and to point out an obvious flaw in LeBron\u2019s logic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What is certain is this: As of press deadline Tuesday, the effort had garnered $438,000\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To be clear, the City of Bellevue has not confirmed Silvester\u2019s suspension without pay. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe has not been terminated. He was disciplined within the department, and that\u2019s an internal personnel issue, so there won\u2019t be any further comment beyond that,\u201d Bellevue Mayor Ned Burns said. <\/span><\/p>\n

More To The Story<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It should also be noted that at least one GoFundMe page related to the Silvester matter has been taken down. It was launched by an organizer by the name of Eric Smallwood and it was asking for donations toward giving better radios to officers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another online effort is gaining steam, a Change.org petition that wants to see the deputy marshal\u2019s GoFundMe earnings taken away. According to the petitioners, Silvester has a longer history of controversial videos done while in uniform. Specifically, they cite the following from Silvester\u2019s account:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Silvester defends Kim Potter, a former Minnesota police officer who was charged with second-degree manslaughter after the death of Daunte Wright. Potter said she confused her gun with her taser.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf Silvester ignores an imaginary fight occurring outside of his patrol car, with the phrase \u201cwhen a pedophile is about to get his a** beat\u201d visible on the screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u25cf According to a report from Newsweek, an Instagram account that appeared to belong to Silvester featured a video showing people lying in a street before depicting the inside of a car going over multiple bumps. The caption reportedly said \u201cMe and the boys on our way to the (former President Donald) Trump rally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The petition, which as of press deadline Tuesday had 2,725 signatures, claims the fundraising effort violates GoFundMe\u2019s transparency requirements and that the campaign is \u201cout of synch with the company\u2019s own pledge\u201d to support justice and equality made in the weeks following George Floyd\u2019s murder by Minneapolis police.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether the campaign violates GoFundMe\u2019s terms of service is not entirely clear. As funds came pouring in, Silvester made a thank-you video and said a portion of the funds will go toward a charity. In addition, the GoFundMe page lists the First Responders Children\u2019s Foundation as potential recipients. Ward confirmed that 100% of the funds will go to Silvester\u2019s personal bank account, and from there he can donate as he wishes. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the foundation\u2019s website, its mission is to provide \u201cfinancial support to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty as well as families enduring significant financial hardship due to tragic circumstances.\u201d First Responders Children\u2019s Foundation also supports, promotes and facilitates educational activities and programs created and operated by first-responder organizations whose purpose is to benefit children or the community at large, the organization says. <\/span><\/p>\n

And There\u2019s This \u2026 <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

According to \u201cNewsweek\u201d and several other media reports, Silvester was one of four Twins Falls police officers involved in a fatal shooting of Randy J. Holler, Jr., in 2009. Holler was armed and struggled with the officers. He did not fire his pistol but the police said he was \u201csweeping\u201d and pointing his gun at them. They shot him 17 times. <\/span><\/p>\n

All the officers were cleared of any wrongdoing after being put on administrative leave and going through psychological evaluations. It should also be noted that the Change.org petition describes Holler as black. According to Ward, Holler was caucasion. None of the media reports state Holler\u2019s race.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bellevue deputy marshal facing scrutiny for LeBron James video sees GoFundMe windfall By Eric Valentine Bellevue Deputy Marshal Nate Silvester\u2019s viral TikTok video, wherein he pretends to ask for LeBron James\u2019 advice on how to handle an altercation between a black male attacking another black male with a knife, made national news and controversy last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,83,18,49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bellevue","8":"category-idaho","9":"category-news","10":"category-top-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15968,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15957\/revisions\/15968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}