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Shia LaBoeuf Shoves Hitler Fan on Video, Gets Arrested

By  Aidan Gardiner and Jeanmarie Evelly | January 26, 2017 8:31am 

 Shia LaBeouf outside the Museum of the Moving Image minutes before he was arrested.
Shia LaBeouf outside the Museum of the Moving Image minutes before he was arrested.
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Museum of the Moving Image

QUEENS — Actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested early Thursday for assault during a Trump protest outside the Museum of the Moving Image, police said.

Supporters said he was provoked by a Hitler apologist.

"Hitler did nothing wrong," a man can be heard saying on video right before LaBeouf shoves him.

The actor's supporters tweeted out the video of The "Transformers" actor, who organized an art collective installation at the museum on 37th Street at 35th Avenue that encourages people to repeat the phrase "he will not divide us" into a camera streaming live online 24 hours a day.

Actor Jaden Smith stood in front of the camera for hours repeating the phrase on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Police said that they arrested the LaBeouf because of an altercation in which he shoved a 25-year-old man and grabbed his scarf outside of the museum around 12:45 a.m.

Supporters shared a video on Twitter, which appears to be a cellphone selfie, which shows a man calling LaBeouf over to the camera, greeting him and then saying, "Hitler did nothing wrong," prompting the actor to shove him and walk away.

Police would not confirm whether the arrest was related to the video.

LaBeouf can be seen on a Museum of the Moving Image livestream from approximately 12:35 a.m. Thursday wearing an NYPD hooded sweatshirt and pacing back and forth chanting, "He will not divide us" as a group of uniformed NYPD officers approach him.

Eventually, LaBeouf can be seen in the background facing the camera with his hands behind his back as officers put him in handcuffs and lead him away. The image is partially blocked by other people chanting, "He will not divide us."

As LaBeouf is led away, those in the video chant, "Free Shia!" and "F--k you, you Nazis!"

LaBeouf was given a desk appearance ticket, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

He was released from the 114th Precinct about 3:45 a.m. to a gaggle of fans who again shouted, "He will not divide us," according to The New York Post.

Matias Rodriguez, 32, who lives in Astoria and was at the art installation Thursday morning, said LaBeouf returned to the site around 10:30 a.m. and stayed for about a half hour.

"He said 'good morning' to everybody. He got in front of the camera," said Rodriguez, who's visited the installation a few times and says LaBeouf has been kind to fans there.

"He's been taking pictures with everybody," he said.

Deputy Inspector Peter Fortune, the commanding officer of the 114th Precinct, could not confirm the exact source of the dispute that led to LaBeouf's arrest, but he said the art piece has drawn both Trump opponents and supporters since it launched last week.

"It hasn't escalated to physical violence like it did last night," Fortune said.

"We've had some animated discussions, where people have gotten into it, but nothing like that."

He says he's been monitoring the live video stream and that officers have been assigned to the site to keep an eye on the crowd and any potential issues.

"To make sure both groups are free to express themselves," he said.