Shia LaBeouf's anti-Trump art protest shut down after violence

Written by . Published: February 10 2017

Shia Labeouf's performance artwork protesting U.S. President Donald Trump has been shut down by bosses at New York's Museum of the Moving Image.


The Transformers actor, 30, his artistic collaborators Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Ronkko as well as the actor/rapper Jaden Smith, 18, invited activists to join them in front of a webcam outside the museum and chant the phrase "He will not divide us" for the duration of Trump's four year term as president.

However since the project began on 20 January (17), the day of America's new leader's inauguration, there have been a number of violent incidents at the site.

Museum chiefs have now shut down the project, cutting off the webcam because the violence had made the installation a "public safety hazard".

"The installation had become a flashpoint for violence and was disrupted from its original intent," they said in a statement given to WENN.

The statement continued, "Over the course of the installation, there have been dozens of threats of violence and numerous arrests, such that police felt compelled to be stationed outside the installation 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Shia was arrested on 25 January (17) after a scuffle with an alleged Nazi sympathiser. There have been numerous other altercations caused by nationalist supporters of Trump attempting to hijack the project.

Executives at the museum cited the actor's arrest as the moment events began to get out of hand, saying, "While the installation began constructively, it deteriorated markedly after one of the artists was arrested on the site of the installation and ultimately necessitated this action."

After the webcam feed, broadcast on the specially created website Hewillnotdivide.us, was cut, a message appeared in place of live footage which read, "THE MUSEUM HAS ABANDONED US".