Shia LaBeouf's assault charges dropped

Written by . Published: March 31 2017

Actor Shia Labeouf has had charges of assault and harassment against him dropped by New York authorities.


The Transformers star was arrested in January (17) after he was involved in a scuffle outside the Big Apple's Museum of the Moving Image, where he and Jaden Smith had set up their anti-Donald Trump art protest days earlier.

Shia was booked for the misdemeanor counts before he was released on bail, and he was due to face the charges in court next week (begs03Apr17), but the hearing has since been canceled after New York Police Department officials decided not to move forward with the case, according to TMZ.com, due to insufficient evidence.

Shia and his pal Jaden launched the four-year HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US project on 20 January (17), the day of Trump's inauguration, and encouraged members of the public to take a stand against the controversial new U.S. President by chanting the phrase, "He will not divide us" into a camera, which streamed the footage live online.

Police had to be stationed at the venue due to the large crowds, and after further violent clashes, museum bosses decided to shut down the protest piece.

Shia moved the camera to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but a shooting incident nearby prompted him to reconsider that location too, and in early March (17), the project changed form and moved to a mystery location, with webcam feed showing a flag and the words, "He will not divide us".

Last week (22Mar17), the actor revealed the flag footage was being streamed from the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool, England, prompting pranksters to climbed on the facility's roof in a bid to reach the flag, which was subsequently removed.