Museum hosting Shia LeBeouf's "He Will Not Divide Us" project shuts it down due to violence

The Museum of the Moving Image recently shut down actor Shia LeBeouf's "He Will Not Divide Us" exhibit after the project departed too far from its original intent, and became an attraction for all sorts of oddities. LeBeouf's arrest for assault seemed to be a turning point for the project, inspiring people to come down and disrupt the exhibit in various ways.

The museum released a statement on why they closed down exhibit.

The installation had become a flashpoint for violence and was disrupted from its original intent.

While the installation began constructively, it deteriorated markedly after one of the artists was arrested on the site of the installation and ultimately necessitated this action. Over the course of the installation, there have been dozens of threats of violence and numerous arrests, such that police felt compelled to be stationed outside the installation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The museum ended by saying "ending our engagement with the installation is the most prudent path forward to restore public safety."

The original intent for the exhibit was for a camera on the side of the museum to continuously film 24 hours a day for as long as President Donald Trump was in office. Participants would stand in front of the camera and repeat the mantra "he will not divide us" as many times as they liked.

The trouble is, the project also attracted many different kinds of detractors as well. Sometimes it was just plain silliness, but sometimes it became dangerous. Neo-Nazis would sometimes make appearances, including one that LeBeouf had an altercation with, then chased around the block. Recently, white supremacists began dancing around with jugs of milk and yelling random things at the camera.

The live feed from the stream has now been replaced with a message that says "the museum has abandoned us." LeBeouf tweeted out an image of the screen with the hashtag #HeWillNotDivideUs.