ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The camera is off. Following a stream of problems around the live camera set up downtown for people to protest President Trump, the plug has been pulled.
A man was reading a peaceful poem into the live stream camera — then came gunshots from down the block. After those gunshots, you can hear people yelling about how the camera has attracted trouble and violence.
“Bad things happen but I don’t think it’s because of the art, I think it’s just because of the neighborhood,” said passerby Chris Paul.
Thursday morning, actor Shia LaBeouf, who’s behind the camera, tweeted out that the stream had been taken down after shots were reported in the area, saying, “the safety of everybody participating in our project is paramount.”
A spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department said they had nothing to do with shutting the camera off, saying it was LaBeouf’s decision, and it’s out of their control.
On Saturday, LaBeouf and other artists installed a webcam with the words “He Will Not Divide Us” written on the wall above. The webcam live streamed messages people wanted to share directed at President Donald Trump.
A lot of peaceful protesters have read messages into the camera for the country to see, but it has also captured people just looking to make trouble — like a young man cussing and pulling out what appears to be a gun. Trump supporters also confronted protesters and almost triggered a brawl.
LaBeouf first put up a camera in New York. That one came down quickly because of all the trouble it was attracting.
The spokesperson for APD said they are investigating a road rage incident that lead to a shooting on Eighth Street, just a block away from the camera, which also happened early Thursday morning.
Chase Smotherman was arrested for that shooting. After testing the gun, police found out it was a stolen. Police have not said if those shots were the ones heard in the camera.
