From WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
Alec Baldwin claims “every single person” on the set of “Rust” knows who to blame for the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Hutchins died when a gun Baldwin was holding fired while practicing a shot for the film “Rust” on the New Mexico movie set Oct. 21. The group had been rehearsing in a small church on the set.
“I know that every single person on the set of the film knows what happened, and the people who are talking loudest about what happened or speculating about what happened were not on the set of the film,” Baldwin told Chris Cuomo during an appearance on his podcast.
Baldwin called out specific media outlets for harping on the shooting, including the L. A. Times and The Hollywood Reporter.
“They are talking on and on and on about what if this and what if that and have dined out on this and the thing that they have in common is nobody was there.”
“Everybody who were there, they know exactly what happened,” Baldwin concluded. “They know exactly who’s to blame.”
Baldwin has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ family along with two other lawsuits brought by crew members.
The wrongful death lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Halyna’s husband, Matthew Hutchins, and their son, Andros, named Baldwin and others who “are responsible for the safety on the set” and called out “reckless behavior and cost-cutting” that led to the death of Hutchins, according to Hutchins’ lawyer.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, assistant director David Halls, production companies and producers are also named in the lawsuit.
Matthew Hutchins’ attorneys interviewed witnesses before filing and created a video compiling evidence for the wrongful death lawsuit. In the video, shared at a previous press conference, Hutchins’ lawyers reiterated claims from crew members that the “Rust” set was unsafe. The lawsuit claimed Baldwin and the “Rust” crew and cast committed “major breaches” of safety on the set.
“I think it’s clear what happened,” lead attorney Brian Panish told reporters at the time. “Alec had the gun in his hand. He shot it. Halyna was killed.”
Baldwin explained during the new interview that he believes guns can fire without pulling the trigger by using a technique called “fanning.” The “30 Rock” actor claimed that if you pull the hammer back far enough while the gun is loaded with a live round, it would fire. He maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the gun that killed Hutchins.
“The man who is the principal safety officer of the set of the film declared the gun was safe when he handed it to me,” Baldwin said, seemingly referring to assistant director Dave Halls.
“The man who was the principal safety officer of the film declared in front of the entire assemblage, ‘This is a cold gun.’ Now, why did he say that if he didn’t know and hadn’t checked? The point is we were told everything was cool and you can relax and we are working with a gun that is safe to rehearse with.”
The actor later emphasized he did not know there was a live round in the gun.
“But he explained it to me effectively that that’s exactly what can happen if you pull a hammer back and let it go if there’s a live round,” he added, seemingly referring to Halls. “See, there’s only one question to ask here. Who put a live round in the gun?”
Baldwin previously claimed in a tell-all interview that he did not pull the trigger of the gun, however the claim has been questioned by gun experts and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
“Guns don’t just go off,” Sheriff Adan Mendoza previously told Fox News Digital. “So whatever needs to happen to manipulate the firearm, he did that, and it was in his hands.”… (Read more)
