Fake rumours claim Alec Baldwin fired gun amid anti-Trump rant. Fact Check

A number of false claims have spread in the aftermath of the tragic shooting on the film set of movie Rust.

While firing a prop gun on the movie set for Rust, actor Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinemaphotographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

A number of false claims have spread in the aftermath of the shooting, which we discuss below.

Baldwin shot gun during anti-Trump rant

Alec Baldwin is more recently known for his impressions of former president Donald Trump on the TV show Saturday Night Live. This was likely the inspiration for a fake claim that Baldwin was in the middle of an anti-Trump rant while firing the weapon that killed Hutchins.

The rumour is spreading in the form of a screenshot from an unknown media article, as per below.

However the screenshot is fake. The majority of the text is from a real source, Fox News. However the paragraph about Baldwin being on a Trump rant was added into the screenshot. The original Fox article did not mention anything about such a rant.

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Baldwin claimed he was allowed to “pick own gun”

A second rumour that is equally false goes on to incorrectly attribute a quote to Baldwin. An article on notorious conspiracy website Gateway Pundit makes the claim that Baldwin – after the shooting – asserted he was allowed to “pick his own gun”. That quote is below.

‘They had me pick my gun. They were like, “Alright, what gun would you like?” I was like, “I don’t know”, and the armorer was like, “Do you have gun experience?” I was like, “A little”, she was like, “This is how you load it…check it’s safe. Do you want it hip drawn or cross drawn?” I was like “cross drawn, that sounds fun”.’…

However that quote was actually said a month prior by actor Jensen Ackles, not Alec Baldwin.
 

How about i just f***’** shoot the both of ya

A third rumour that has also circulated social media in the form of a fake newspaper article claims that shortly before discharging a fatal shot, Baldwin jokingly waved the gun around and said “How about i just fuckin’ shoot the both of ya“.

However, the newspaper article isn’t real. The majority of the text again has been lifted from a genuine article, this time on Variety.com but the excerpt about the quote from Baldwin has been added in.