Daily Wire‘s new pro-ICE movie production has attracted local protesters in Livingston, Montana.
Filming under the working title Pawn Shop, the latest project from Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire and Dallas Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend has upset locals — not just because of its alleged use of blank gunshots, pyrotechnics and a staged car wreck without properly notifying residents and businesses, but because its opening scene appears to dramatize ICE’s fatal shooting of Renée Good in Minnesota back in January.
Livingston local Brooklyn Wilde, who also works in the film industry as a producer and director, tells Deadline that given how much of a “tight knit small town” Livingston is, “This production crew could have done a lot better with notifying everyone.”
Deadline has reached out to Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend for comment.
Meanwhile, the Livingston Food Resource Center (LFRC) released a statement explaining how the production has impacted its clients, who “already face numerous obstacles to meeting their most basic needs.” The group notes that it is the only resource of its kind in the area, serving one in eight Park County residents, and the production has resulted in an “unacceptable” eight-week low in their attendance.
“Since filming began across the street from our building, road closures and armed security guards have increased the barriers to accessing food,” they said. “Our clients deserve to feel unequivocally safe accessing this essential resource.”
The LFRC claimed they “were not notified of the plans to film” Pawn Shop in front of their pantry and were only informed about the production when calling the city to inquire. “There was no part of the permit process that allowed us to object or advocate for our clients, as the permit had already been issued and filming was due to start that week,” they added.
In response, Wilde has joined fellow concerned locals in protesting the production, chanting “Ben Shapiro is a cuck” and shouting details of Good’s fatal shooting at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross.
“It’s just been people who want to get up and say something,” said Wilde. “And we have a legal right to protest on the street as long as we keep it under 65 decibels, and the cops have been called on us about a dozen times. One of our sweetest protesters was ticketed.”
With Rust producer Carter Boehm serving on the production team, the latest collaboration between Bonfire Legend’s Sonnier and Daily Wire comes after their last film, Run Hide Fight: Infidels, was picketed by IATSE. Several crew members walked off over labor issues in South Carolina, shortly before Jonathan Majors was involved in an on-set accident that resulted in his co-star JC Kilcoyne needing stitches “all over his hands” after falling through a window.
Deadline has confirmed that the Pawn Shop production is not under an IATSE contract either, while it is under a “conditional start” with SAG-AFTRA.
A call sheet seen by Deadline lists Danny Trejo, Harvey Keitel and Henry Thomas among the cast.
The synopsis for Pawn Shop reads: “When chaos hits the streets of Minneapolis, a young federal agent is left alone after his partner is seriously hurt and must find a way to survive an increasingly dangerous situation. Seeking shelter inside a neighborhood pawn shop, he becomes trapped with a traditional Hispanic father and his progressive college-age son, forcing three very different men to confront fear, conflicting beliefs and a crisis that tests their courage and humanity.”
Having recently filmed in the streets of Livingston, the opening scene appears to recreate Good’s fatal shooting through a sensationalized MAGA perspective, in which writer Jake Harlen describes the character Melanie as “a fat blue-hair.”
“The first shot takes Melanie in the neck, below her covid mask. The second in the head, above her covid mask,” the script reads.
“Blood SPLATTERS on her PASSENGER’s (40s, female, overweight) forehead and matching covid mask.”
In a video of the sequence being filmed, protesters can be heard chanting through a megaphone, “Ben Shapiro is a cuck!”
With dangerous stunts involving pyrotechnics, Livingston Fire Department confirmed they were on call, but some locals say they were not properly notified of the sequence taking place in their front yards. Deadline has reached out to the Montana Film Office.
Livingston Police Chief Wayne Hard says the department has been contacted with complaints “on a daily basis” since production began.
“To my knowledge, they have the proper permits,” said Hard. “I don’t know whether or not there was an effort made by the film crew to notify neighboring residents and businesses.”
Directed by Michael Polish, the latest Daily Wire movie comes after Majors’ protested production, Run Hide Fight: Infidels, a sequel to the company’s 2021 feature debut.
Meanwhile, Wilde and fellow protesters have discussed “a counter piece that could distract” from the movie, potentially making a documentary “not only about what they’re doing here, but also potentially tying it back into the tragedy that actually happened.”
The filming of Pawn Shop comes as Good’s family filed two federal lawsuits on Thursday against the U.S. government, including a wrongful death claim and a complaint against Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan and Jonathan Ross, as well as other federal agents.
Ross shot Good dead on Jan. 7, 2026, as she attempted to drive away from an ICE operation in Minneapolis, amid the Trump administration’s militarization of major U.S. cities.
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