Judging Freedom - Alec Baldwin's Interrogation on _Rust_ shooting

Episode Date: April 26, 2022

#AlecBaldwin #RustSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello there everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Tuesday, April 26th, 2022. It's about five after two o'clock in the afternoon in the eastes of an interrogation of Alec Baldwin conducted in the police office, police headquarters, shortly after the killing of his colleague on set. This is the first time, I'm going to show you this in a minute, this is the first time we have ever seen Alec Baldwin, in his own words, describe what happened immediately leading up to the tragic killing of his colleague. It's about 40 or 45 seconds long. It's Baldwin unrehearsed. Take a look. Every time we've done this, I'm here to tell you, to testify that every time we've done this, she's done it right. She cleaned the barrel, made sure nothing was lodged in there.

We went hot when they were ready. You always announce, going hot. Crew gets ready. And then all of a sudden, you're the camera, and I shoot away from you. I sit there, I'm like, bang, bang, bang, and flashes are coming out, and we shoot the rounds. She cleans the barrel every time, and she checks that the rounds are all cosmetic rounds or nothing in the chamber for the rehearsal she hands me the gun i'm assuming she's done it the right way she's done in the last two weeks i put in the holster i pull it out slow we're rehearsing

we're not filming anything i pull it out slow turn cock the pistol bang it goes off and she hits the ground he cocked the pistol bang it goes off and she hits the ground. He cocked the pistol, bang, it goes off, and she hits the ground. So this is, if you're familiar with weapons, this is an old-fashioned Western revolver, and you can cock the pistol by pulling the instrument back, and then it stays back until you pull the trigger. It's called the hammer, what you're cocking. And then the hammer goes forward,

hits another piece of metal that hits the bullet that causes the explosion and sends the bullet out. Baldwin is saying, this is the first time we've heard this, that he never pulled the trigger when his colleague was killed, that all he did was cock the gun. If you cock the gun properly, it doesn't go off. If you don't cock it properly, the hammer will snap right back and begin the nearly instantaneous process of striking a piece of metal that strikes the base of the bullet that causes the explosion that sends the bullet flying. I don't know legally if this helps him or hurts

him or who it helps or who it hurts. I will tell you this, from the thousands of interrogations I have witnessed, he seems relaxed and credible. It doesn't seem like he's trying to hide anything. And he makes his case that this was an accident and that he relied reasonably on the skill and care of the person who was in charge of the gun. So we still don't know what caused this tragic death. More to come. Judge Napolitano, judging freedom.