Some of Alec Baldwin’s old tweets have resurfaced after the actor accidentally killed a cinematographer while filming a Western Thursday, according to authorities.
SO WHAT
Is this cancel culture or internet justice? Is there a difference?
WHAT HAPPENED
Baldwin discharged the prop firearm on the set of “Rust” in Santa Fe, New Mexico, killing the movie’s photography director, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding the director, Joel Souza, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Joel Souza, 48, was injured during the shooting, which occurred in the middle of a scene that was either being rehearsed or filmed.
- “We’re trying to determine right now how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm,” Juan Rios, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office said.
- Larry Zanoff, an armorer who has worked on major Hollywood films, told The Times that industry guidelines prohibit the use of live ammunition on a set but sometimes actual firearms are used to fire blanks.
- Earlier in the day, Baldwin posted a since-deleted photo of himself in film costume to Instagram.
As of Thursday evening, the Sheriff’s Office had not charged anyone in connection with the shooting, Rios said.
THE TWEETS
On social media, critics of Baldwin – an outspoken liberal and gun control advocate – resurfaced past tweets and statements from the actor that, in light of Thursday’s tragedy, had aged like milk.
Dec. 2014: Baldwin protests the death of Mike Brown, a black teenager fatally shot by a Ferguson, Missouri police officer.
Oct. 2015: The anti-Trump actor mocks Dick Cheney by referencing the time the former vice president accidentally shot a man in the face while quail hunting.
Sept. 2017: In response to images purportedly showing trophy hunters shooting an elephant in Zimbabwe, Baldwin tweets: “Shoot these f*cking people.”
Sept. 2017: Baldwin appears to criticize unlawful police shootings, tweeting: “I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone.”
Jan. 2018: The actor suggests shooting National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre with a BB gun.
Jun. 2018: Baldwin, apparently reacting to the season 2 finale of HBO’s “Westworld,” tweets, “when the plot stumbles or collapses, just shoot someone.”
THE RESPONSE
On Friday, Baldwin tweeted out condolences to Hutchins’ family and said he was “fully cooperating” with the police investigation into the shooting and had been in contact with Hutchins’ husband.
- “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,” Baldwin tweeted.
