Alec Baldwin Responds to Shooting Death on Movie Set

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after a prop gun was discharged with an apparent live round chambered. Alec Baldwin has not been charged.

Summary

Actor Alec Baldwin accidentally discharged a loaded weapon on set earlier this week, leading to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

• According to reports, Baldwin was told the firearm was not loaded, described as a “cold gun”, before Hutchins and director Joel Souza were shot. 
• Officials for Santa Fe County, New Mexico, where Baldwin was filming a movie, have not yet charged or arrested anyone in connection with the incident. 
• Baldwin broke his silence on the incident Friday, writing in a tweet that “his heart is broken” for Hutchins’ family. 
• Reports indicate the production was plagued with labor issues as camera operators and other crew members “walked off the set to protest working conditions.”

• Newsweek reported on “right-wing voices” on Twitter, including Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and former Ambassador Ric Grenell, “trolling” Baldwin over the incident with Boebert saying “if this was a conservative celebrity you’d be calling for his head.” 
• The Daily Beast took a similar angle, blasting Senate candidate and author J.D. Vance for telling Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to “let Trump back on” the platform because “we need Alec Baldwin tweets.” 
• The New York Times detailed the typical safety protocols on movie sets for firearms, including restrictions on who manages them, training for cast members, and how blank cartridges work.

• Fox News interviewed “film and prop historian” Michael Corrie to explain how firearms are handled on set by an armorer, saying a crew member specifically for firearms is a relatively new position and before the 1980s, firearms would typically be handled by the prop master. 
• Breitbart participated in the trolling of Baldwin, highlighting a 2017 tweet from the actor saying “I wonder how it must feel to wrongly kill someone…” while also listing movies in which Baldwin, who is an unabashed liberal and gun-control advocate, used firearms. 
• RedState circumspectly suggested on-set trouble with the film’s labor may have contributed to the shooting, speculating whether Hutchins “advocating for safer conditions for her team” could have been a factor in the incident.

Author’s Take

Y’all need Jesus. Anyone making light of the situation to score political points should pause and reflect on their values. Baldwin’s politics and the oft-time repugnant way in which he displays them is absolutely no reason to troll or criticize him over the death of another person.

This incident is a prime example of how politics has warped our culture. A woman died in what was almost certain to have been an accident and people of prominence in one political tribe used it as an opportunity to dunk on someone from the opposite political tribe. Those trolling weren’t random unknown citizens. It came from members of Congress, former ambassadors, and candidates for office. This is a tragedy and their attitude toward it is absolutely disgraceful.

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© Dallas Gerber, 2021