Shia LaBeouf released after arrest for assault outside NYC museum

Jayme Deerwester | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Shia LaBeouf arrested at his art exhibit over Donald Trump protest Shia LaBeouf produced an interactive art exhibit at the Museum of Moving Images, but all did not go well when he ended getting arrested. Keri Lumm (@thekerilumm) reports.

Actor Shia LaBeouf's ongoing, livestreamed anti-Trump protest/art installation hit a snag Wednesday night after he was arrested for getting into a physical altercation with another man. He was later released.

The actor, who has been chanting "He will not divide us" into a live camera since Friday's presidential inauguration, was charged with misdemeanor assault after pulling the scarf off an unidentified 25-year-old man outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, N.Y. It's not clear what provoked the confrontation.

Police said LaBeouf scratched the man's face, although he refused medical attention.

It was not immediately known if the actor retained an attorney for his latest bout of trouble with New York police: In June 2014, he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and lighting a cigarette in the theater showing Cabaret.

The New York Post reported LaBeouf was released Thursday shortly before 4 a.m., outside the 114th Precinct, and published a picture of him with his hand raised in a two-finger "rock-on" gesture. LaBeouf shouted, "We will not be divided!”, waved to a handful of supporters and jumped into a green cab.

Videos posted on social media show LaBeouf returning to the site before sunrise to resume chanting.

He faces a misdemeanor assault charge and is due in court April 4.

The livestream's website, created by LaBeouf and two collaborators, invites passersby to join the 24-hour-a-day, 4-year endeavor and stop by the Museum of the Moving Image "to deliver the words 'He will not divide us' into a camera (mounted on an outdoor wall).…repeating the phrase as many times, and for as long as they wish." LaBeouf has been a frequent, though not constant presence.

Despite the project's mantra, LaBeouf told the Associated Press that it wasn't technically just about opposing Trump.

“We’re anti-division out here. Everyone’s invited,” LaBeouf said in a Monday interview captured on the video stream. “I’m just saying, ‘Be nice to each other.’”

It was unclear whether the camera captured any of Thursday's early morning confrontation, but it did show the aftermath, including LaBeouf being handcuffed and led off by police.

Since the art installation began, the cameras have shown him getting aggressive with some participants. In one instance, he shoved a man who said "Hitler did nothing wrong."

In the moments before his arrest, he issued a plea into the camera.

"Hey, be nice. Everybody be nice down here, man. Just be nice! That's the only requirement. Be nice!" he said. "That's all I ask. Be nice. Pro this, pro that. Cool. But be nice."

Contributing: Associated Press