Alec Baldwin news – live: Actor to continue filming Rust after involuntary manslaughter charges

The husband of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has welcomed the involuntary manslaughter charges being brought against Alec Baldwin and called it “a comfort to the family.”

New Mexico authorities have announced that Mr Baldwin and other members of the crew of the western movie Rust will be prosecuted over Hutchins’s death on the set in October 2021.

“We want to thank the Santa Fe Sheriff and the District Attorney for concluding their thorough investigation and determining that charges for involuntary manslaughter are warranted for the killing of Halyna Hutchins with conscious disregard for human life,” Hutchins’s family said through lawyer Brian Panish.

The Independent’s Graeme Massie has the story:

“In the immediate aftermath of Halyna Hutchins’ death, back in 2021, Don Jr could be found selling T-shirts on his website attempting to satirize the accident (I say “attempting to” because it wasn’t funny, and it also wasn’t technically satire),” The Independent’s Holly Baxter writes.

Now that Alec Baldwin has been charged with the shooting, Don Jr also has something to say.

“When the latest school shooting hits the news, however, most [extreme pro-gun Republicans] at least have the decency to offer redundant “thoughts and prayers”. That Halyna Hutchins wasn’t even worth that to Donald Jr says everything we need to know about the hardhearted apathy that lies underneath.”

The district attorney says that the charges in the shooting of Halyna Hutchins will be formally filed before the end of January and the charges against Alec Baldwin carry up to a maximum 18-month prison sentence.

Former prosecutors and attorneys have been reacting to the decision to criminally charge the Hollywood star over the October 2021 set shooting.

“Prosecutors have taken a bold step by charging Baldwin,” former Los Angeles County prosecutor Joshua Ritter, who is a partner with El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, told The Independent.

Graeme Massie has the story:

The embattled western film Rust will be completed, the production has announced amid pending charges against three of its original crew.

Melina Spadone, an attorney for the production of the western, confirmed the news on Friday to CNN, adding that “on-set safety supervisors and union crew members … will bar any use of working weapons or any ammunition.”

Rust’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, while first assistant director David Halls has already agreed to plead guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Alec Baldwin is set to be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the on-set death of Halyna Hutchins, the Santa Fe District Attorney has said.

New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said on Thursday that Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will also face two charges of involuntary manslaughter.

“Maybe Alec Baldwin will be lucky enough to share a cell with Michael Avenatti,” Mr Trump Jr tweeted on Thursday in response to the announcement.

Mr Avenatti, a disgraced lawyer, was sentenced to 14 years in prison last month and ordered to pay $11m in restitution after he was found to have embezzled millions from four clients, CNN reported.

The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander reports on the criticism sparked by Mr Trump’s tweet.

“It is entirely understandable for the family of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins to welcome the charges brought against Alec Baldwin,” Andrew Buncombe writes for The Independent.

But America’s real Wild West is not film sets of westerns. It is our schools, streets, shops, and places of worship.

Nearly 15 months after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, investigators announced criminal charges over the on-set fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

According to affidavits from law enforcement, the 64-year-old actor was discussing a gunfight sequence with crew members when he unholstered the weapon and raised it in the direction of a camera, where director Joel Souza and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins were standing.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley explains the complicated case:

The father of Sarah Jones, a camera operator who died on the set of the 2014 film Midnight Rider, has said that he hopes the charges against Baldwin will bring about change.

You can read his conversation with The Independent’s Bevan Hurley below…

Following the news that Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of Halyna Hutchins, The Independent’s Ellie Muir has looked back at the cinematographer’s life and career.

In February 2022, Halyna Hutchins’s husband said he felt “angry” seeing the actor speak about his wife’s death “so publicly”.

“I was angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way, and then to not accept responsibility after having just described killing her,” said Matt Hutchins on the Today show last year.

“The idea that the person holding the gun causing it to discharge is not rep is absurd to me.”