Actor Alec Baldwin feared that Donald Trump supporters would kill him after the Rust movie set shootout, where the 64-year-old accidentally discharged a firearm, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

He spoke to CNN in an interview, saying “The former president of the United States said [I] probably shot her on purpose. To me, that was the only time I was worried about what was going to happen”, and added, “Here was Trump, who instructed people to commit acts of violence, and he was pointing the finger at me and saying I was responsible for the death.” 

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Trump had reacted to the news of Baldwin’s accidental misfire, saying that the actor “probably shot her on purpose”. Baldwin has often imitated the 45th US President in Saturday Night Live cold opens, and Trump hadn’t held back in his criticisms either. 

However, his comment made Baldwin afraid that Trump’s supporters would be incited the same way they were during the Jan 6 insurrection at the Capitol. After the Republican’s message, Baldwin was “1000% nervous” about Trump supporters attacking him, he revealed to CNN. 

The actor added, “A bunch of people were instructed by the former president to go to the Capitol, and they killed a law enforcement officer. They killed somebody. You don’t think I thought to myself, ‘Are some of those people going to come and kill me?'” 

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Baldwin has maintained that he didn’t pull the trigger, telling ABC last December “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never.” However, the recent FBI investigation concluded that the gun couldn’t have been fired “without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.” This doesn’t align with the actor’s account of events. 

Trump’s role in inciting the Jan 6 riots is currently being investigated by a Congressional committee and the hearings are often aired on primetime television.