Actor Alec Baldwin, who is known for his political activism and outspokenness, has been thrown into the spotlight once more as news broke that he could be charged in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins from a shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” about a year and a half ago.
The First Judicial District Attorney of New Mexico, Mary Carmack-Altwies, will announce her decision on whether to bring charges against Baldwin Thursday. Spokesperson Heather Brewer released a statement expressing their commitment to integrity and respect for the victim’s family in light of this solemn occasion.
The shooting occurred when Baldwin was practicing his quickdraw moves with a Colt .45 while filming Rust, a Western movie. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, the gun was loaded resulting in fatal injury to Halyna Hutchins who was only 42 at the time and tragedy also struck director Joel Souza who was injured as well. It turns out Baldwin had been told by assistant director Dave Halls that the gun was “cold” meaning it had no live rounds in it.
Following an investigation conducted by sheriff’s office over the course of one year, DA’s office stated in October that they would do a thorough review of all evidence before bringing any charges against Baldwin or anyone else involved. This comes as quite surprising given Alec Baldwin’s anti-gun stance that he has been very vocal about throughout his career.
He has joined forces with other celebrities in 2018 for example, through his establishment of the “No Rifle Association Initiative” which aimed to reduce NRA’s influence on American politics and shared his opinion on NRA personality Dana Loesch saying: “The Second Amendment is not a moral credit card that buys you all the guns you want. That law needs to be rethought.” As such it takes even more weight considering he committed such an error himself, something President Trump did not hesitate to comment on following the incident saying: “He’s a troubled guy. There’s something wrong with him…Usually when there’s somebody like that you know… he had something to do with it.”
Baldwin himself commented on Twitter after experiencing shock and sadness over what happened saying: “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.“
My opinion of the matter is that he didn’t what what he was doing with the gun and shot her by mistake because he doesn’t know how a revolver works. He should still be held responsible anyway.