New Orleans state prosecutors on Thursday formally filed misdemeanor battery charges against actor Shia LaBeouf, four months after his arrest for allegedly striking three men at a bar. The decision by the office of District Attorney Jason Williams means that hate-crime charges will not be pursued, despite video evidence capturing LaBeouf directing anti-gay slurs at the alleged victims.
Details of the Incident
Police arrested LaBeouf after he purportedly punched two men and headbutted a third at the R Bar in the Marigny neighbourhood of New Orleans around 12:45 a.m. on 17 February, during the city's Mardi Gras holiday. Bar staff had asked him to leave after he became increasingly aggressive and insulted the men with homophobic slurs, according to sworn police statements filed in court. LaBeouf was briefly jailed after being discharged from a hospital where he was taken at the time of his arrest. He was released after posting a $105,000 bond and was ordered by a judge to enrol in substance abuse treatment.
Victims' Perspectives
One of the alleged victims, Nathan Thomas Reed, identifies as queer, and another, Jeffrey Damnit, dresses in drag. Damnit captured a cellphone video of LaBeouf directing the homophobic insult "faggot" at him outside the bar. Damnit had previously expressed hope that prosecutors would charge LaBeouf under a state law allowing enhanced penalties for crimes motivated by actual or perceived sex or gender. The Guardian has contacted Reed and attorneys for Damnit and LaBeouf for comment. The third alleged victim has declined to comment on the case.
Legal Proceedings
LaBeouf's charges were contained in a bill of information filed by Williams on Thursday morning, hours before a court hearing for individuals arrested but not yet formally charged. An arraignment date for LaBeouf, at which he would enter a plea, has not yet been set.
Previous Controversies
In an interview published 11 days after his arrest, LaBeouf told YouTube outlet Channel 5 that "big gay people are scary" to him due to his "traditional Catholic" faith. He also alleged that "three gay dudes [were] next to me, touching my leg" before the violence. "I [got] scared," LaBeouf added. "I'm sorry – if that's homophobic, then I'm that." These remarks have drawn attention from New Orleans' legal community, particularly in light of a state law that permits reasonable force to prevent certain offences.
This is not LaBeouf's first encounter with the US criminal justice system. During a 2014 arrest for disrupting a Broadway show in New York City, he was accused of insulting a police officer with the homophobic slur "fag." In 2017, he was recorded saying police were racist and that a Black officer would go to hell during a disorderly conduct arrest in Savannah, Georgia, which resulted in court-mandated rehab.
