Alec Baldwin Will Be Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter in ‘Rust’ Killing
The film’s armorer will face the same charge. A cinematographer was killed when a gun Baldwin was rehearsing with went off. There was not supposed to be live ammunition on the set.
By Julia Jacobs and Graham Bowley
Jan. 19, 2023, 11:06 a.m. ET
The actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for handling the gun that discharged on the set of “Rust,” killing its cinematographer, as will the movie’s armorer, who loaded the gun, prosecutors in New Mexico announced on Thursday.
The criminal charge was a remarkable development in the career of Mr. Baldwin, 64. He has been a household name for decades — a leading man in films who hosted the Oscars and played Jack Donaghy in “30 Rock” and former President Donald J. Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
He has long denied culpability, noting that he had been told the weapon he was rehearsing with on the set did not contain live ammunition. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” Mr. Baldwin said in a television interview last year.
The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the guns on set, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, who handed Mr. Baldwin the gun that went off, agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/a...c-baldwin.html