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October 25, 2021

Union Members Walked Off "Rust" Set Ahead of Prop Gun Killing of Halyna Hutchins
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More information has emerged about last week's deadly shooting of
cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of the Western
"Rust." Crew members say they made multiple complaints about safety on
set, with two accidental discharges from prop guns occurring before the
fatal shooting of Hutchins by Alec Baldwin, who was falsely told a prop
gun was "cold" - meaning unloaded - before he started rehearsing a
scene. "Corners were being cut," one person told the Los Angeles Times.
The day of the shooting, all but two members of the camera crew
reportedly walked off the job to protest working conditions. The
departed crew members - who belonged to the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees - were replaced by nonunion workers. Over the
weekend, film workers in Albuquerque held a vigil for Halyna Hutchins.

Efraín Villa: "There are so many protocols when you're on set. It almost
becomes a ceremony every time that you are handed a gun to use.
Obviously something failed. And I don't know what failed, but the fact
that this happened shows that an elemental piece of that safety protocol
didn't work."



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