Shapiro Film Resumes After ICE Movie Permit Fight — SkimNews
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- Ben Shapiro condemned the Livingston City Commission's decision to halt filming of his Daily Wire movie 'Pawn Shop', calling it 'content discrimination' and a 'violation of the First Amendment'.
- Livingston City Commission held a special meeting and passed a motion to temporarily suspend Bonfire Pawn Shop LLC’s filming permit, citing concerns over public safety and impact on the local food bank.
- Permits for 'Pawn Shop' were reinstated Monday night following discussions with city officials, allowing production to resume after a brief shutdown.
- Michael Polish is directing 'Pawn Shop', a film centered on an ICE officer during civil unrest, featuring cast members including Danny Trejo, Harvey Keitel, and Henry Thomas.
- The logline for 'Pawn Shop' describes a young ICE officer barricaded in a pawn shop amid a riot, forced to choose between upholding the law and surviving a mob seeking to free a prisoner.
Why it matters: The city’s selective enforcement—halting a politically charged film while implying lighter content would have been acceptable—creates a tangible risk of legal action over free speech rights, with Shapiro explicitly framing the shutdown as ideological suppression rather than neutral regulation.
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