Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested early Thursday after he allegedly grabbed and pushed a man outside a museum in New York where the “American Honey” star has been protesting the divisions caused by Donald Trump’s presidency.
A New York Police Department spokesman said that LaBeouf grabbed at the scarf of a 25-year-old man, “causing a scratch to the man’s face,” and then pushed him, which made the man fall to the ground. Police officers were flagged down, and arrested LaBeouf about 12:30 a.m. Thursday on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and harassment.
The alleged victim did not ask for medical treatment and remained on the scene, police said.
The New York Daily News reported LaBeouf was charged and released early Thursday.
LaBeouf has stationed himself outside the Museum of the Moving Image, in Queens, since Trump’s inauguration last Friday, chanting “He will not divide us” as part of a participatory public-art project that he and two partners intend to run continuously throughout Trump’s presidency. The performance is being live-streamed, and members of the public are invited to join in.
LaBeouf told the Associated Press earlier this week that the project was not anti-Trump but rather “anti-division.” “I’m just saying, ‘Be nice to each other,'” the actor said.
Popular on Variety
LaBeouf recently wrapped shooting on Janus Metz Pedersen’s “Borg/McEnroe,” a drama chronicling the 1980 Wimbledon final match between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. LaBeouf plays McEnroe.
 |
| Shia LaBeouf (left) stands in front of his anti-Donald Trump art installation outside of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York on Monday. Deepti Hajela/AP/REX/Shutterstock |