Although details regarding how Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cameraman on a New Mexico film set are still being uncovered, some political observers have already ascribed blame to one of Hollywood’s most renowned liberals.
Baldwin’s criticism of former President Donald Trump and his “Saturday Night Live” Trump imitation have long enraged right-wing journalists and lawmakers. They didn’t waste any time identifying the person who fired the trigger. The hashtag #AlecForPrison spread like wildfire on Twitter.
Within hours after the shooting, Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance requested that Trump be reinstated on Twitter, which had blocked him following the Capitol insurgency. Vance commented, “We need Alec Baldwin tweets.”
On Monday, Trump’s eldest son was selling $28 T-shirts with the phrase “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people” on his official website. Later, the sign was taken down.
The fact that some onlookers appeared to relish in Baldwin’s participation in the shooting added a political depth to the tragedy. Gun violence has long divided the country, but the fact that some viewers seemed to exult in Baldwin’s role in the shooting added a political dimension to the tragedy. Hutchins’ death was “heartbreaking for normal people,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper said on Sunday.
“However, something about our current politics is moving people away from our shared humanity,” Tapper remarked.
Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of “Rust” near Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to court records. According to authorities, Baldwin was handed the weapon by the assistant director, Dave Halls, who proclaimed “cold gun,” meaning that the weapon was safe to use.
Baldwin was practicing a scenario in which he took a pistol from his holster and aimed it toward the camera, which Hutchins and Souza were behind, according to an affidavit unsealed Sunday night. Souza, who was hit by a bullet, claimed the situation did not warrant the deployment of live ammunition.
It’s still unclear where the gun-handling process went wrong. Souza claimed that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and then Halls examined the movie’s weaponry on a regular basis.
Halls’ safety record has been questioned by at least two persons.
A producer for the film “Freedom’s Path” confirmed Monday in an email statement to The Associated Press that Halls was sacked from the 2019 project after a crew member was injured “when a pistol was suddenly discharged.” Halls was “immediately removed from the set,” according to the producer, who did not want to be recognized by name. Halls had to be removed before production could resume.
Maggie Goll, a prop maker, claimed on Sunday that she submitted an internal complaint about Halls’ conduct on the set of Hulu’s “Into the Dark” series in 2019. According to Goll, Halls violated weapons and pyrotechnics safety standards and attempted to continue filming when the supervising pyrotechnician, who was diabetic, passed out on set.
Requests for comment on the shooting have gone unanswered by Gutierrez-Reed or Halls.
Baldwin was careful with guns, according to cameraman Reid Russell’s declaration. Russell was uncertain if the firearm had been examined before being given to Baldwin.
Following Hutchins’ death, many in the film business have suggested that computer-generated effects should completely replace actual weapons.
On Instagram, actress Riley Keough said, “There should not have been a loaded gun on site.” “We don’t need real weaponry since we can create replicas and use CGI,” says the narrator. That, in my opinion, is the problem. Certainly not Alec Baldwin.”
Baldwin has become the “face to this awful tragedy,” as director Gigi Saul Guerrero put it. The 63-year-old actor, who has been a strong supporter of gun regulation, has been extensively criticized on social media by the far-right.
Conservative analyst Candace Owens tweeted, “Literally not a single thing Alec Baldwin has said about Donald Trump and his followers is going to age nicely.”
Last year, Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert recalled Baldwin’s tweet supporting Black Lives Matter demonstrators, in which Baldwin stated he was planning to produce T-shirts that read: “My hands are up.” “Please don’t shoot me!” says the narrator. “Alec Baldwin, are they still available?” wrote Boebert. “I’m looking for a film producer.”
Boebert faced a lot of flak for his actions. Boebert had “no soul,” according to actor George Takei. “This was a horrific and horrible accident,” actress Rosanna Arquette commented. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ms. Boebart, for politicizing it.” Boebert, on the other hand, stood by her tweet.
“You crazed Blue Checks want to take away our right to self-defense with a rifle while knowing nothing about firearm safety!” Boebert penned the piece. “You’d be shouting for his head if this were a conservative celebrity.”
In an impassioned Facebook post on Sunday, the film’s main electrician, Serge Svetnoy, blamed the filmmakers for Hutchins’ death. Svetnoy accused those handling guns on set of “negligence and unprofessionalism,” and said the producers chose an incompetent armorer.
“I’m convinced we had pros in every area except one,” Svetnoy wrote, “the department in charge of the weaponry.” “The person who was supposed to check this weapon before bringing it to the set did not. And the HUMAN’S DEATH IS THE RESULT!”
Rust Movie Productions LLC, the film’s production firm, has indicated it is working with authorities and undertaking an internal investigation. The studio said that work on the picture has been halted, but that it may restart in the future.
Baldwin has stated that he is working with law police and that the shooting was a “tragic accident.”
