What to Know
- Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested on assault and harassment charges after allegedly grabbing, scratching and pushing a man at a protest
- LaBeouf has been co-leading a live-streamed anti-Trump protest outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens
- LaBeouf got into an argument with another man outside the museum over the weekend; video shows him yelling in the man's face
Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested after an altercation at a livestreamed anti-Trump protest he has been leading in Queens, police said Thursday morning.
Video from the livestream shows the 30-year-old actor and performance artist being led away by NYPD officers outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, where the "He Will Not Divide Us" protest has been streaming live since last Friday, ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration.
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LaBeouf was at the demonstration around 12:35 a.m. Thursday when he got into an altercation with an unidentified 25-year-old man, according to police, who said the confrontation wasn't necessarily a disagreement about President Trump.
At some point, LaBeouf pulled the man by his scarf, scratching his face and causing him to fall to the ground, police said. The livestream caught part of the altercation and appears to show the man being pulled off screen by his scarf.
Police said the man refused medical attention after the encounter.
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Video posted to the "He Will Not Divide Us" YouTube page shows LaBeouf being led away by police moments later.
(Disclaimer: The video below contains some explicit language)
LaBeouf was processed at the 114th precinct Thursday morning. Police said he faces misdemeanor assault and violation level harassment charges.
The actor left the precinct station house in a New York City taxi cab a few hours later as a number of people chanted "He will not divide us!" He returned to the protest at the Museum of the Moving Image around 4 a.m.
LaBeouf and 18-year-old rapper Jaden Smith launched the four-year protest against Donald Trump on Friday, the day of the president's inauguration. It consists of a live-streaming camera outside the museum, where people are invited to deliver the words "He will not divide us" to the camera as many times as they wish.
The feed is currently planned to stay in place either for four years or until Trump's term as president ends.
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LaBeouf told The Associated Press that the project wasn't technically about opposition to Trump.
"We're anti-division out here. Everyone's invited," LaBeouf said. "I'm just saying, 'Be nice to each other.'"
Since it launched at 9 a.m. Friday, the protest performance art has seen a mixed crowd, and the altercation early Thursday morning was not the first moment of tension involving LaBeouf.
In a feed captured over the weekend, a man walks up to the camera while LaBeouf and other anti-Trump protesters are chanting. The man tries to deliver his own message.
"We must secure the existence of white people," he begins, before LaBeouf interjects with the chant "He will not divide us!"
The rest of the man's message is inaudible as the actor yells the phrase repeatedly at his face, going chest-to-chest with the man. The confrontation was broadcast live on the feed and recorded by some people watching.
There have been other incidents cropping up on the feed that oppose LaBeouf's intended message of unity.
For example, one man used the platform at night to repeat a line in support of Hitler, while another group used the feed to challenge the actor, using derogatory language.
A spokesperson for the Queens district attorney's office said LaBeouf is due back in court in April 4. A representative for the actor couldn't immediately be reached.
