He Will Not Divide Us: Shia LaBeouf arrested on camera during protest livestream
The actor launched a four-year protest livestream at NYC's Museum of the Moving Image, but has become a target of harassment by neo-Nazis
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Your support makes all the difference.Shia LaBeouf has been arrested at the site of his livestream protest work, He Will Not Divide Us.
Housed on the exterior wall of New York City's Museum of the Moving Image, LaBeouf created the work as a reminder of the power of unity; a four-year livestream of a camera mounted on the museum's wall, where members of the public are invited to stand and repeat the words, "he will not divide us", as many times as they choose, for as long as they wish. The livestream will continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week; continuously for four years, or however long Donald Trump’s presidency lasts.
The project declares, "the mantra ‘he will not divide us’ acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community."
However, ever since the livestream's launch on Inauguration Day, internet boards have seen Trump supporters and Neo-Nazis organise harassment campaigns deliberately targeting anyone who takes part in the livestream; including seeing a man wearing a hat similar to those worn by Nazi military turning up to quietly chant neo-Nazi slogans into the camera.
Buzzfeed's investigations found that users are attempting to identify and document every protestor who appears on the livestream, with the information archived on a neo-Nazi wiki page.
It is unclear precisely what incident has led to LaBeouf's arrest, though TMZ claims it happened after another individual attempted to target the livestream, with the result being LaBeouf - who himself is Jewish - grabbing the man's scarf and allegedly scratching him the process. The NYPD have been reportedly surveying the protest site since Monday, and so were quick to intervene in the situation.
Some of the other protestors at the site stated, "Shia took a hit for us. There were all these Nazis here, he came out and tried to protect us." They have vowed to continue the protest without him.
The He Will Not Divide Us Twitter account is now stating that LaBeouf has been released from custody, though no further details have been provided.
We have reached out to a representative for Shia LaBeouf for comment.
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