A Daily Wire film production that appears to re-enact elements of Renee Good’s killing has been allowed to continue filming in a rural Montana town.
Production of Pawn Shop, the conservative media company’s upcoming movie, was temporarily halted earlier this month after residents of Livingston complained about inconvenient road closures, as well as the film’s portrayal of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.
The project, which reportedly stars Danny Trejo and Harvey Keitel, follows an ICE agent’s arduous effort to escape an angry mob seeking to free an immigrant he has detained, according to its logline.
During a Livingston city commission meeting last week, several residents took the podium to air a slew of grievances about Pawn Shop’s presence in the town. Little to no public notice was given, they said. Street closures were impeding access to a food pantry. The sound of gunfire was unsettling.
In one video of the shoot that surfaced online, a female protester can be seen driving a beat-up car into a flock of law enforcement agents, knocking one officer down, as another fires his weapon. Then, the car abruptly lurches back.
That scene drew backlash – and protesters – over its resemblance to an ICE agent fatally shooting Renee Good in January.
“A production can hijack our downtown with hired guns and re-enact mob beatings while blocking the entrance to a beloved non-profit,” area resident Bex Frucht said at the commission meeting. “They are simulating a highly controversial murder in our streets.”
The project’s filming permit was temporarily revoked amid the outcry, before being reinstated with new parameters around noise and any depictions of violence.
The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro blasted the city commission for deferring to what he described as “radical leftwing protesters”.
“When you put together a film it takes a lot – a lot in terms of production. You have to get the permit, which we did. You have to get everybody there, which we did. Every single day costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars to film. All these people decided to show up and disturb the filming,” he said in a video posted to X on Wednesday.
Livingston city commissioner Melissa Nootz did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Shapiro’s remarks.
Pawn Shop was originally set to wrap up production in Livingston on 10 October, according to town officials. It’s unclear if the temporary shutdown has pushed back that date.
Kaya Patten-Fusselman, executive director of the Livingston Food Resource Center, voiced support for the new conditions attached to the filming permit in a Wednesday statement posted to social media.
“This was about access. Having blocked access to the entrance of our one-way parking lot didn’t and doesn’t work for some of our clients,” Patten-Fusselman said. “I’ll keep working with the city so the next non-profit, business, or neighbor gets notice well before a street has multi-week closures.”
