Ben Shapiro Calls Montana Halt on Trejo Film 'Content Discrimination', but City Says It Was About Permits

Ben Shapiro has called a Montana town's three-day halt to filming for his Daily Wire movie, starring Danny Trejo, 'content discrimination'. Livingston's leaders objected to the story, he says. The city's lawyer says the only test was whether the crew broke the permit rules.

The row pits free speech against local safety fears. The film, currently titled Pawn Shop, follows a federal agent trapped in a pawn shop as chaos hits Minneapolis. Trejo plays the shop's owner, a veteran, and filming in Livingston ended on 9 October.

Why Livingston Paused the Daily Wire Shoot

Residents complained about blank gunfire, explosions, and a staged car crash that came without proper warning to people nearby. Others said road closures and armed guards made the town's single food bank harder to reach. Protesters also objected to a scene that appeared to recreate the fatal ICE shooting of Renée Good, a Minneapolis mother, in January. On 3 October, the city's leaders all voted to pause the permit and get legal advice.

'I think this has been a runaway train,' Commissioner Cindy Daniels said at that meeting, The Associated Press reported. Two days later, the same leaders unanimously restored the permit. City attorney Jon Hesse told members the sole issue was whether the production had stuck to its terms, not the film's plot. In return, producers agreed to keep the food bank easy to reach and shield the public from violent scenes and noise. Their guards would also stop policing locals.

What Shapiro Said About the Shutdown

Speaking on his own show, Shapiro said politics alone drove the halt. He seized on a remark from Daniels that the project was not a Hallmark film or a romantic story set at Christmas. To him, that showed officials wanted a different kind of film. He argued that the halt breached the First Amendment of the US Constitution. He also blamed protesters, whom he said had disrupted the shoot from day one.

Shapiro vowed to finish and release the film anyway. Filming restarted on 6 October. Producers had told the city that protesters kept getting in their way. Police Chief Wayne Hard said his officers had fielded complaints every day since cameras started rolling, though nobody had reported any violence. In March, a group of crew members walked off another Daily Wire film, Run Hide Fight: Infidels, over labour issues during a union picket.

What the Film Is About and Who Stars in It

Trejo, 82, has faced a backlash from fans and says he is not pro-ICE but pro-immigrant. As an actor, he wrote on Instagram, 'my job is to tell a story', Variety reported. Harvey Keitel plays another veteran, and Michael Polish directs. Shapiro is producing the film alongside Dallas Sonnier of Bonfire Legend.

Livingston has long hosted film crews, IndieWire noted. Shapiro claims officials would have welcomed other crews but singled out his film about enforcing immigration law. IATSE, the main film crew union, had no contract with the production. Shapiro's company has not yet announced a release date for the film.