Yesterday Santa Fe, New Mexico, prosecutors announced they will charge A-List actor Alec Baldwin for two alternative counts of negligent homicide in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
While that decision may have surprised Baldwin, prosecutors really had no choice.
Hutchins was killed in October 2021 on the set of the movie “Rust” by a firearm that was prepared by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer. She’ll also be charged.
"Rust" director Joel Souza was also struck and injured by the round after it exited Hutchins.
Additionally, Santa Fe special prosecutor Andrea Reeb announced that “Rust” first assistant director David Halls, who handed Baldwin the firearm, agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.
Reeb confirmed that the careless manner in which firearms were handled on the set resulted in Hutchins’ death and Souza’s injury.
“If any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” said Reeb. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set.”
Luke Nikas, Baldwin’s lawyer, agreed except as it applied to his client. He believed Baldwin was an innocent party.
“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” said Nikas in a statement. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
But Baldwin is also supposed to be a “professional.”
According to Baldwin and other witnesses, he was told it was unloaded — that he was handed a “cold gun.”
But he should have acted professionally and checked the weapon himself — the first of four universal rules of firearm safety. They are:
- Treat all guns as if they’re always loaded.
- Never let the muzzle point at anything that you don’t intend to hit.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you’re ready to fire.
- Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Not only did Baldwin break the first rule, he broke the other three as well.
He pointed the weapon at the cinematographer (Rule 2). There was at least one other person standing behind her who could be (and was) injured (Rule 4).
That only leaves Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger. He broke that one as well.
Although he claims he never pulled the trigger, the FBI tested the weapon last year, and concluded that it “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.”
Additionally, local law enforcement released a clip of Baldwin rehearsing the scene being shot that day showing his finger on the trigger.
Dallas-Fort Worth CBS 11 News reporter J.D. Miles posted the video on Twitter, along with this message:
“The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has released evidence related to the deadly shooting on ‘Rust’ movie set in New Mexico last year,” he reported. “Included is this clip of the scene where the film’s cinematographer was killed by a gun in Alec Baldwin’s hands.”
The scene shows Baldwin apparently asleep, then quickly drawing the weapon and waving it in the general direction of the camera. It clearly shows his finger on the trigger.
But assuming the firearm is a single-action revolver as it appears to be, merely pulling the trigger isn’t enough. He would also have to cock the weapon. He admitted that he did exactly that during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“I cock the gun. I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’” Baldwin said. “And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off.”
Baldwin has always been publicly anti-gun, so much so that he joined a coalition of celebrities in 2018 called the No Rifle Association (NoRA). Its purpose was to ultimately destroy the National Rifle Association (NRA).
However, the NRA isn’t just America's oldest civil rights organization, protecting our Second Amendment freedoms. It also has more than 125,000 instructors, 8,000 coaches, and 2,200 training counselors who teach more than 1 million people each year how to safely handle firearms.
Ironically, had Baldwin put his prejudices aside and brought an NRA instructor on board, Hutchins would still be alive and working at her craft.
And Baldwin wouldn’t be facing criminal charges.
But he gave prosecutors no choice.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.