Conservative political voices take aim at Alec Baldwin after fatal 'Rust' incident
NEW YORK â Details are still emerging about how Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a cinematographer on a New Mexico film set, but some political onlookers swiftly assigned guilt to one of Hollywoodâs most prominent liberals.
Right-wing pundits and politicians have long chafed at Baldwinâs criticism of former President Donald Trump and his Trump parody on âSaturday Night Live.â They wasted little time zeroing in on the actor who pulled the trigger. The hashtag #AlecForPrison ricocheted around Twitter.
Within hours of the shooting, Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance asked Twitter to let Trump back on the social media platform that banned him after the Capitol insurrection. âWe need Alec Baldwin tweets,â Vance wrote.
By Monday, Trumpâs oldest son was selling $28 T-shirts on his official website with the slogan âGuns donât kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.â The post was later removed.
Gun violence has long divided the country, but the fact that some observers seemed to revel in Baldwinâs role in the shooting added a political dimension to the tragedy. CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday called Hutchinsâ death âheartbreaking for normal people.â
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âBut thereâs something about our politics right now that is driving people away from our shared humanity,â Tapper said.
Court records provided some details about the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of âRustâ near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Authorities have said that the assistant director, Dave Halls, handed the weapon to Baldwin and announced âcold gun,â indicating that the weapon was safe to use.
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In an affidavit released Sunday night, the filmâs director, Joel Souza, said Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he drew a revolver from his holster and pointed it toward the camera, which Hutchins and Souza were behind. Souza, who was wounded by the shot, said the scene did not call for the use of live rounds.
Itâs not clear yet where the gun-handling protocol failed. Souza said the movieâs guns were usually checked by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and then again by Halls.
At least two people have aired doubts about Hallsâ safety record.
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In an email statement to The Associated Press, a producer for the movie âFreedomâs Pathâ confirmed Monday that Halls was fired from the 2019 production after a crew member suffered a minor injury âwhen a gun was unexpectedly discharged.â The producer, who asked not to be identified by name, wrote that Halls âwas removed from the set immediately.â Production did not resume until Halls was gone.
More:Halyna Hutchins killed after 'horrifying' prop gun misfire; Joe Manganiello, more pay tribute
Prop maker Maggie Goll on Sunday said she filed an internal complaint in 2019 over concerns about Hallsâ behavior on the set of Huluâs âInto the Darkâ series. Goll said Halls disregarded safety protocols for weapons and pyrotechnics and tried to continue filming after the supervising pyrotechnician, who was diabetic, lost consciousness on set.
Neither Gutierrez-Reed nor Halls have responded to requests for comment on the shooting.
In the affidavit, cameraman Reid Russell said Baldwin had been careful with weapons. Russell was unsure whether the weapon was checked before it was handed to Baldwin.
In the aftermath of Hutchinsâ death, many in the film industry have argued that real guns should be replaced entirely by computer-generated effects.
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âThere should not have been a loaded gun on set,â actor Riley Keough wrote on Instagram. âWe donât need real guns, we can make replicas, and we have CGI. In my opinion, that is the issue here. Not Alec Baldwin.â
And yet, as director Gigi Saul Guerrero observed, Baldwin has been the âface to this tragic story.â The 63-year-old actor, a vocal advocate of gun-law reforms, has been widely mocked by the far-right on social media.
âLiterally not one single thing that Alec Baldwin has said about Donald Trump and his supporters is going to age well,â tweeted conservative commentator Candace Owens.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, cited a tweet of Baldwinâs last year supporting Black Lives Matter protesters in which Baldwin said he was going to make T-shirts that read: âMy hands are up. Please donât shoot me!â Wrote Boebert: âAlec Baldwin, are these still available? Asking for a movie producer.â
Boebert received widespread criticism. Actor George Takei said Boebert had âno soul.â Actress Rosanna Arquette wrote: âThis was a tragic and horrible accident. Ms. Boebart and you should be ashamed of yourself politicizing it.â But Boebert stood by her tweet.
âYou crazy Blue Checks want to take away our right to defend ourselves with a firearm, and know NOTHING about basic gun safety!â Boebert wrote. âIf this was a conservative celebrity youâd be calling for his head.â
The filmâs chief electrician, Serge Svetnoy, blamed producers for Hutchinsâ death in an emotional Facebook post Sunday. Svetnoy faulted ânegligence and unprofessionalismâ among those handling weapons on the set, and claimed producers hired an inexperienced armorer.
âIâm sure that we had the professionals in every department, but one â the department that was responsible for the weapons,â Svetnoy wrote. âThe person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it. And the DEATH OF THE HUMAN IS THE RESULT!â
A spokesman for the filmâs production company, Rust Movie Productions LLC, has said it is cooperating with authorities and conducting an internal review. The company said it was halting production on the film but signaled it may resume in the future.
Baldwin has said he is cooperating with the law enforcement investigation and described the shooting as a âtragic accident.â