Topline
Right-wing Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) attributed prosecutors’ decision to drop charges against actor Alec Baldwin to “liberal privilege” on Friday, adding to the chorus of conservative criticism against Baldwin, who famously parodied former President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, in the wake of the fatal movie set shooting.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., attends a news conference with senators and members of the House … [+]
Key Facts
Boebert—a fervent Trump ally part of a coalition of extreme-right members of Congress who regularly attack Democrats—said “liberal privilege is real” in a tweet on Friday about the case, alluding to right-wing conspiracies of collusion between Hollywood and liberal lawmakers and power-players.
Special prosecutors on Thursday dropped two counts of involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin, 65, in connection with the shooting death of a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of “Rust” in October.
Conservatives have used the shooting to criticize Baldwin and boost the gun-rights narrative that people who fire guns are responsible for shooting deaths, rather than firearms.
Key Background
Baldwin—who has said he did not pull the trigger—was rehearsing a cross-draw when the Colt .45 he was holding fired a bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In addition to Baldwin, the film’s armorer responsible for guns on set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Assistant director David Halls, who handed Baldwin the gun, was sentenced to six months of probation on charges of negligent use of a deadly weapon last month. Prosecutors dismissed the case against Baldwin on Thursday after investigators found that the gun’s trigger control was improperly functioning and the joints of the revolver were fatigued, ABC News reported.
Tangent
Conservatives politicized the shooting and used it as an opportunity to criticize Baldwin, whose Emmy-winning portrayal of Trump on the late-night comedy show angered the former president and his allies. The hashtag #AlecBaldwinforprison trended on Twitter shortly after the shooting, and Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. hawked T-shirts that read “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.”
Surprising Fact
Baldwin fired back at Trump in 2018 after the then-president suggested SNL should face “retribution” for what he described on Twitter as a “total Republican hit job.” Baldwin responded questioning whether the Tweet “constitutes a threat to my safety and that of my family.”
Further Reading
Alec Baldwin Charges Dropped Because Of Trigger Malfunction, Report Says (Forbes)
Alec Baldwin Charges Dropped After Fatal ‘Rust’ Shooting, Lawyers Say (Forbes)
Alec Baldwin Wins Emmy For ‘Saturday Night Live’ Donald Trump Impression (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/04/21/lauren-boebert-says-alec-baldwins-charges-were-dropped-due-to-liberal-privilege/