"I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them — never.... Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger."

Says Alec Baldwin, quoted in "Alec Baldwin Says He ‘Didn’t Pull the Trigger’ in ‘Rust’ Killing/The actor said in a brief excerpt from an upcoming interview with ABC News that he had not pulled the trigger when the gun he was holding went off, killing the cinematographer" (NYT).

I interpret this to mean that he has no memory of intending to pull the trigger or pulling the trigger, but I think it's highly unlikely that the gun fired without his pulling the trigger. I don't think he can say that he didn't point the gun in the direction that the gun was pointed when it was in his hand. It's got to be merely an assertion that he didn't intend to point the gun at the woman who died (Halyna Hutchins).

Alec Baldwin is...

lying.

either lying or he can't remember but he did point the gun and pull the trigger.

possibly correct that the gun fired without his pulling the trigger.

 

pollcode.com free polls

"In the movies, the prep is everything. You also need time to clean, inspect and repair guns. You need time to fix old clocks."

"In period films, you are sometimes using antiques. But here, there was absolutely no time to prepare, and that gave me a bad feeling." 

Said Neal W. Zoromski, quoted in "'Rust' movie was turned down by veteran prop master over 'massive red flags'/The Alec Baldwin-starring film was operating on a low budget and wanted too small of a crew, the veteran filmmaker says."

That's at Fox News, which, I see, is generating a lot of "Rust" stories. There's also 

"'Rust' shooting left film locals 'rolling their eyes' at alleged lack of safety measures: 'Just unthinkable'/One local moviemaker hopes to see change in safety guidelines so 'the death of Halyna was not in vain.'" The text — though not the headline — makes a strong pitch for the labor union, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE):

"A friend messages: 'Jake Tapper thinks Alec Baldwin deserves "basic decency" from Republicans. Hahahahahahahahahaha.'"

"These guys can dish out the very nastiest stuff, but they can’t take it, because up to now they’ve been shielded by what Ann Althouse calls 'civility bullshit.' The only trouble is, people have realized it’s bullshit. You want civility and decency? Try displaying some."

Blogs Glenn Reynolds (at Instapundit).

"Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a revolver 'towards the camera lens'... when the gun... suddenly went off and killed the cinematographer, according to the film’s director..."

That's the most exculpatory narrative, "quoted in an affidavit released Sunday night," the NYT reports.

The Times doesn't link to the affidavit, so I'm puzzling over whether it's the director's affidavit and thus his sworn statement or whether it's someone else's affidavit that quotes something the director (Joel Souza) said more casually. 

The account by Mr. Souza explained why Mr. Baldwin had been pointing the gun at the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins....

Not completely. I wish the NYT wouldn't look like it's trying to help Baldwin. Please say only exactly what you know. Souza said something, but we don't know it's true. He's an interested party. And "towards the camera" isn't even the same as "at the camera," let alone "at the cinematographer." If it was "at the camera," wouldn't it hit the lens?

"[T]he same gun Alec Baldwin accidentally fired... was being used by crews members off set as well, for what we're told amounted to target practice."

"We're told this off-the-clock shooting — which was allegedly happening away from the movie lot — was being done with real bullets ... which is how some who worked on the film believe a live round found its way in one of the chambers that day.... There's also this ... one source who was on set and familiar with the goings-on of the crew tells us that when cops showed up, they found live ammo and blanks were being stored in the same area...."

TMZ reports.

There's a lot of blame to go around. Journalists should be careful about adding words like "accidentally" before the facts are established. I think we do know that Baldwin fired the gun. Did he not fire it intentionally? That's a question separate from whether he believed the gun was unloaded. Was he in a situation within his role as an actor where he was directed to fire the gun? I've seen the assertion that the gun went off as he was practicing removing it from a holster, but was he doing that with his finger on the trigger? I guess the story in the movie could be that the character mishandles his gun and it goes off. If so, it would be wrong to write "accidentally fired."