Prosecutors File Involentary-manslaughter Charges Against Alec Baldwin

hank

Prosecutors filed involuntary-manslaughter charges Tuesday against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the movie “Rust”in New Mexico, according to court records. Santa Fe-area District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies also filed involuntary-manslaughter charges against the film’s armorer who handled guns on the set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. The shooting occurred in October of 2021 on the set of the low-budget Western outside Santa Fe. During preparations for a scene, Mr. Baldwin discharged a live round from a revolver, killing 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins.

The film’s director, Joel Souza, was wounded. Mr. Baldwin pointed a gun at the cinematographer and the director despite knowing the first rule of gun safety is to never point a gun at someone, investigators said in a probable-cause statement filed Tuesday with a New Mexico First Judicial District court. He also failed to perform safety checks of the gun with Ms. Gutierrez-Reed, according to the court filing. “This reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting,”said Robert Schilling, a special investigator for the district attorney’s office, said in the statement. David Halls, the film’s first assistant
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(Boldface mine for emphasis) Yes - I learned that rule as a teenager when our local Boy Scout chapter was given some basic firearms instruction by a local sport-shooting / hunting organization. That’s the first thing you’re told. Put a bit differently - Always assume a gun is loaded and treat it as such. Furthermore; in this era of “imitation everything” why the need to use real firearms for making fictional movies?

Source: Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal - February 1, 2023

LewisBraham

I think Baldwin deserves these charges. What isn't deserved is the false moral equivalency in the right-wing "internets" between Baldwin who is an actor with zero impact on our lives and Trump who is a reality TV star that happened to become president and has dramatically changed the political landscape as a result. We are in a perilous state if people can't tell the difference between an actor who is a Democrat and pretends to be the president in SNL skits and the actual president.

hank

Yes, of course. Don’t follow right wing propaganda. But they’ll twist / distort the truth any way they can. False “equivalency” very common on many levels.

I still think something doesn’t sound right with the whole bleeping episode. Was Baldwin an unwitting dupe in some kind of malicious plot? Whole thing’s just too “bizzarro” ISTM.

Prosecutor rejects conspiracy theory: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/10/rust-shooting-conspiracy-theory-sabotage-plot

LewisBraham

To me it sounds like stupidity, incompetence, laziness and skimping on independent film safety budgets that caused the death. Involuntary manslaughter is the right charge. I don't think it's a conspiracy. The reaction to it however is carefully orchestrated.

hank

And they’ll make a mint on the film if / when they release it.

Crash

I've not seen anything that says Baldwin is responsible for inserting a LIVE round into the prop-gun. What reasonable actor, preparing for or playing a scene, would EVER expect that someone had put a LIVE round into such a gun, for such a purpose? Baldwin is guilty of zero. OK, not a good idea to point the thing at someone. But pointing the gun ostensibly filled with fake bullets? That's like yelling "crackers!" in a crowded theater.