New Orleans prosecutors file formal battery charges against Shia LaBeouf

Prosecutors opt not to pursue hate-crime charges over February incident despite anti-gay slurs captured on video

New Orleans state prosecutors on Thursday filed formal misdemeanor battery charges against Shia LaBeouf, four months after police officers there arrested him on allegations that he struck three men at a bar.

That move from the office of local district attorney Jason Williams means prosecutors opted to not pursue hate-crime charges against LaBeouf, the star of the Transformers film franchise, despite claims evidently supported by video that LaBeouf aimed anti-gay slurs at the alleged victims.