Newly released footage shows Alec Baldwin handling prop guns and providing guidance on firearm safety while working on the set of “Rust.” This comes just before a grand jury is set to consider new involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin in relation to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The five videos, totaling approximately seven minutes, show Baldwin rehearsing scenes and handling the guns, loaded with blanks. In two of the videos, he requests that crew members move for safety purposes. These recordings were made just days before a live round discharged from a gun held by Baldwin, resulting in the death of Hutchins and injuries to “Rust” director Joel Souza.
According to NBC News, the recently released videos constitute only a small portion of the numerous videos from the “Rust” set that special prosecutors for the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office obtained last month. On October 17, prosecutors Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis announced their intention to recharge Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter, after earlier dropping the charges in April. If convicted, Baldwin could face up to 18 months in prison.
Baldwin has consistently maintained his innocence since addressing the incident in a December 2021 interview with ABC News. He maintains that assistant director Dave Halls assured him the gun was not loaded and that he did not pull the trigger when it fired. Federal investigators conducted a forensics analysis, determining that the gun could not have discharged without a trigger pull.
Halls pleaded no contest in March to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and will serve six months of unsupervised probation. The production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is also facing charges of involuntary manslaughter to which she has pleaded not guilty. Gutierrez-Reed’s trial is set to begin on February 21.
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