“Alec Baldwin was drawing a revolver across his body and pointing it at a camera during rehearsal on the set of ‘Rust’ when the weapon fired and struck the cinematographer in the chest, according to an affidavit released on Sunday. The affidavit provided additional details about Thursday's accidental shooting in New Mexico that killed 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.” Reuters

“An assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released [last] Friday show.” AP News

Both sides condemn the reported pattern of safety failures on the set:

“Baldwin served as an on-location producer for the movie… Three former members of the film’s crew have reportedly stated that there were at least two accidental gun discharges on the set just days before the fatal shooting… Even if Baldwin was unaware of [these] prior gun mishaps, a prosecutor could effectively argue that a responsible producer would have put procedures in place to make sure that such vital information was conveyed to him in his executive capacity overseeing the filming while on the scene. Failure to do so would constitute the kind of recklessness or negligence the law forbids…

“[The film’s armorer -- the person on set responsible for handling, maintaining, and securing firearms] is reportedly 24 years old and the daughter of a well-known Hollywood armorer and stunt man. She stated that she learned from her father and was otherwise self-taught but ‘still-learning.’ Is this the kind of person who should be placed in charge of dangerous instrumentalities on a movie set? Were producers negligent or reckless in hiring someone who was, by her own admission, a neophyte in the industry? Was safety sacrificed to save money in this low-budget production?”
Gregg Jarrett, Fox News

“Six camera crew members, who are part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), had walked off the set after their concerns about safety and working conditions had gone unaddressed. They quit just six hours before the fatal shooting occurred, and they were replaced by nonunion crew members. A producer threatened to call security if the union crew members did not voluntarily leave the property… Hutchins herself had been advocating for better working conditions on the set before the incident occurred…

“‘This is not a freak accident,’ says [Leah Caddigan, an independent filmmaker and former network production assistant]. ‘Multiple steps of safety fail-safes had to be purposely ignored in order for a person to get fatally shot and another person to get injured.’… [Hutchins’s death] is a tragic consequence of studios prioritizing profit and speed over crew members’ lives. Alec Baldwin’s culpability isn’t about him pulling the trigger on a prop gun — it’s about his and his fellow producers’ cost-cutting decisions.’”
Alex N. Press, Jacobin Magazine

Other opinions below.