The New York Police Department is keeping an eye on HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US, the four-year livestream launched by LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner on the day of Trump's inauguration. Speaking with the Verge Thursday, Tomoko Kawamoto of the Museum of the Moving Image said that recent alleged instances of hate speech against the exhibit's participants will not be tolerated.
"As an institution devoted to inclusion and diversity, and as a site for everyone, the Museum condemns hate speech in all its forms," Kawamoto, the Museum's Director of Public Information, told the Verge. "Out of concern for the safety of all participants, Museum visitors and staff, and the surrounding community, we are monitoring the situation in partnership with the police." The Museum, Kawamoto said, will be in "daily communication" with local precinct officials.
There have been multiple reports of alleged neo-Nazis attempting to broadcast messages of hate, though the vast majority of interactions at the Moving Image locale have been peaceful. Shia LaBeouf was reportedly arrested early Thursday morning on "misdemeanor assault and harassment charges" at the HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US site, according to the New York Times. Videos posted by fan-operated Twitter account @HWNDUS allege that LaBeouf was provoked by a man attempting to speak pro-Hitler statements during the livestream:
HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US, LaBeouf's latest collaboration with artists Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner, is designed as a "participatory performance" set to run the duration of Trump's time in the White House. The mantra "acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community," the artists explained upon launch. That mantra, "He will not divide us," was used earlier this week to effectively shut down a man who allegedly attempted to broadcast a known white supremacy slogan.
