This is sort of an existential experience for me. I’m writing about a conflict between an actor I’ve never seen in a movie and a group of internet geeks that I know little to nothing about.

The actor is Shia LaBeouf. Everything I know about him is in this video

The computer group is 4chan. What I know about them is somewhat less. The correct people hate them, so I suspect they aren’t all bad.

This is the set up. Apparently Shia LaBeouf fancies himself to be the leader of some kind of “resistance” to Trump.

On Friday, the day of Trump’s inauguration, LaBeouf announced a project called “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US,” which is live-streaming footage from a camera installed outside the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. You can watch the live stream at Hewillnotdivide.us.

At the time of this writing, the live-streamed footage consisted of Jaden Smith, the actor, rapper, and son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, alongside others chanting, “He will not divide us.” LaBeouf was not seen in the video.

And he managed to get into a slap-fight with a Trump supporter and got himself arrested

Shia LaBeouf has returned to his anti-Trump installation after he was bailed on an assault charge.

The actor-turned-performance artist was arrested early on Thursday morning (January 26), with footage from the #HeWilNotDivideUs livestream showing LaBeouf being taken into custody.

He was charged with misdemeanour assualt and harassment before being released on bail.

Just hours after he had been led away in handcuffs by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers, the actor returned to his protest, determinedly chanting the phrase “he will not divide us” to camera with the support of other activists. You can watch footage of his return here.

LaBeouf, was accused of “engaging in a verbal dispute” with a 25-year-old man. The actor is said to have “pushed” the individual, “proceeded to pull the scarf of the other man, scratching his face while doing so”.

As one might expect, this kind of thing is a prime target for trolling:

Intended to last until President Donald Trump vacates the White House, Shia LaBeouf’s exhibit that defied the new president has been shut down after becoming a “flashpoint for violence.”
…
Last Sunday, in the early hours of the morning, a group of shirtless white supremacists surrounded the camera, drinking bottles of milk and promoting alt-right radio shows. Police eventually had to disperse the rowdy crowd, which apparently concerned the museum hosting the exhibit.

A statement on the project’s website says that while the museum has abandoned the project, “the artists, however, have not.”

Anyway, LaBeouf decided to move his “livestream” to somewhere where it couldn’t be disrupted.

https://twitter.com/HWNDU_livetweet/status/839551713413586948

This is what it looked like. A 24-hr video feed focused on this:

If you want to understand the lack of creativity in Hollywood, this protest is your answer.

Trolls gonna troll and 4chan entered the arena with the challenge.

The measured the shadows at different times of day and used the angle of the sun to estimate longitude and latitude. They could see commercial aircraft crossing overhead and tried to cross reference it to flight tables. Oddly enough, TMZ provided the real clue when he was reported fly fishing near Greenville, TN.

The call went out for local help. One 4chan-er drove around possible sites blowing his car horn so that the sound would be heard on the livestream. In the end, they found their target and conducted a flawless raid. (The whole story is told in excruciating detail on ZeroHedge, check it out.) On the livestream you could see the shameful white rag of “resistance” taken down and the mighty MAGA hat replaces it (it makes its appearance at 2:31):

https://twitter.com/Manly_Chicken/status/840101746407956480

If the CIA had ever shown this much initiative a lot of bad stuff never would have happened.

On the positive side, this is shaping up to be the most amusing presidential term ever.