People hug at a candlelight vigil for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was accidentally killed by a prop gun fired by actor Alec Baldwin, in Burbank, California on October 24, 2021. ( AFP / DAVID MCNEW)

Fake tweet attributed to Alec Baldwin shooting victim Halyna Hutchins

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on November 3, 2021 at 06:05
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Australia

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Facebook posts circulating in Australia purport to show a tweet from Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was killed when actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set. The tweet was apparently posted three days before Hutchins's death and said she had "information that will lead to Hillary Clinton's arrest". The tweet is fabricated; there is no record of Hutchins posting the message and the screenshot of the tweet shows a verified account, while there is no verified Twitter account belonging to her.

The screenshot was posted on Facebook on October 23.

It appears to show a tweet posted on October 18 by an account called @HalynaHutchins. The tweet reads, "I have information that will lead to Hillary Clinton's arrest."

Hutchins was killed during the filming of "Rust" when Baldwin fired a gun he had been told by the film's assistant director was "cold" -- meaning it did not have a live round in the chamber.

A screenshot of a Facebook post sharing the fake tweet, taken on November 2, 2021

The same screenshot was shared on Facebook here and here.

However, the tweet is fabricated.

A search of Twitter accounts belonging to people called Halyna Hutchins found an account @HalynaHutchins, which features the cinematographer's name as both the Twitter name and username, as well as a profile photo of her and a link to her website.

The account does not display any tweets or a blue Verified badge next to Hutchins's name, contrary to the screenshot shared on Facebook. It also features a different profile picture.

A blue Verified badge "lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic," Twitter says.

Below is a comparison of the Twitter handle @HalynaHutchins (left) and the screenshot shared on Facebook (right).

Comparison of the Twitter handle @HalynaHutchins (left) and the screenshot shared on Facebook (right)

A screenshot of the Twitter profile, taken on October 23 and made available on the Wayback Machine digital archive tool, shows a message reading, "@HalynaHutchins hasn't Tweeted".

AFP also debunked posts falsely claiming that Hutchins planned to work on a Hollywood pedophilia documentary before her death.

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