« I don’t know how he can say that he didn’t squeeze it. I mean, if he didn’t squeeze the trigger, who did? »
An armorer and prop gun expert has refuted Alec Baldwin’s claim that he never pulled the trigger on the gun that discharged on the set of the movie Rust, killing cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. The actor has given an in-depth interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos to discuss the fatal incident that occurred on the movie set and was asked if he pulled the trigger on the gun. « The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never, » Baldwin said in response as clips show him breaking down and wiping tears recounting the day. The interview with air on Thursday night but previews have been widely shared and criticized on social media. Richard Howell, owner at prop providers Foxtrot Productions in the U.K. has said that firearms can only go off if the trigger is squeezed. « Firearms are 100 percent safe. It’s just the people that are on are in charge of them and in this case, it can only go off if you squeeze the trigger, » Howell told Newsweek. « That’s a Colt 1880 type firearm, you have to squeeze the trigger, right. » He added: « In rehearsals, your finger is outside the trigger guard at all times, and then when it’s loaded, you really put your finger inside the trigger guard to squeeze the trigger when you have the target in front of you—which is not a person. » Howell said that even a blank round fired at a person can do serious damage. « You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it, » he said. « Certainly not your face and your eyes. Really, really bad news. That’s why there’s no one in front of it. And nobody is near it unless they have to be but certainly nobody’s in front of it.
