Video of cop mocking LeBron James for his 'YOU'RE NEXT' tweet after Ma'Khia Bryant shooting goes viral
Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James has incurred the wrath of police officers across the country. James has been accused of threatening the life of the Ohio police officer, Nicholas Reardon, who fatally shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant. James shared on Twitter, and later deleted, a photo of the officer on Twitter and declared, "You’re next. #ACCOUNTABILITY." Following that, police officers began mocking James with videos posted on social media in which they pretend to call and ask him how to diffuse different situations they encounter when responding to 911 calls.
The most popular among them by far is the one by Nate Silvester, an officer with the Marshal's Office in Bellevue, Idaho. His viral TikTok video has been viewed around 2.5 million times. The video begins with Silvester arriving at a scene and calling dispatch. "Dispatch, I've arrived at that disturbance. Will you have LeBron call my cellphone right away, please? Thank you," Silvester says.
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The officer, from inside his car, speaks to unseen people outside his window and asks a person to "put down a knife." He then tells them to hold on, LeBron is calling his phone. "LeBron, hey, yeah it's me again," Silvester says. "Listen, I'm out here at this disturbance call and there's a guy trying to stab another guy with a knife. What do you think I should do?"
Silvester then asks "Why does that matter?", adding after a bit, "Okay, well, they're both Black. One guy is trying to stab another guy with a knife. Deadly force is completely justified." Silvester pauses as and then says, "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? I mean, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but then again, you're really good at basketball so I guess I'll take your word for it."
Far-right political commentator Ian Miles Cheong later shared another video of a policeman mock-calling James about a naked man running around. “Police officer mocks LeBron James. Glorious,” he wrote on Twitter.
Police officer mocks LeBron James. Glorious.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 26, 2021
pic.twitter.com/AReqHEARfR
On Tuesday, April 20, in Columbus, Ohio police officer Nicholas Reardon fatally shot Ma'Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl. Body-camera footage showed Reardon, who was responding to a 911 call, arriving at the scene, with several people engaged in a heated fight, outside Bryant’s foster home. As the officer got out of his vehicle, Bryant was seen lunging at a woman, dressed in pink, with what appeared to be a knife in her hand. Officer Reardon pulled out his gun and fired four quick shots, killing Bryant. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is reportedly conducting a third-party investigation.
Former president Donald Trump released a statement on April 22, slamming James. In the statement, Trump said, "LeBron James should focus on basketball rather than presiding over the destruction of the NBA, which has just recorded the lowest television RATINGS, by far, in the long and distinguished history of the league."
He also called James racist and divisive. "His RACIST rants are divisive, nasty, insulting, and demeaning. He may be a great basketball player, but he is doing nothing to bring our Country together," Trump said in his statement.