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Alec Baldwin's 2017 tweet about ‘wrongful killing' by cop unearthed amid shooting tragedy

In the 2017 tweet, Baldwin appeared to mock a California police officer who fatally shot a young man during a struggle in front of a 7-Eleven store

One of Alec Baldwin's past tweets came back to haunt him after he fatally shot a crew member and injured another with a "prop firearm" on the set of his latest movie 'Rust'. The Hollywood star faced backlash over a 2017 tweet criticizing a Southern California police officer's fatal shooting.

Sixty three-year-old Baldwin, notorious for his SNL impression of former President Donald Trump, is said to have opened fire on Thursday, October 21, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, New Mexico, fatally shooting 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, 48, in the process. A reporter and a photographer for the local news outlet Santa Fe New Mexican said they saw the '30 Rock' star "in tears" following the tragedy, which has not yet been declared an "accident" by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office at the time of writing.

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"I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone," Baldwin, who is known for his political activism, tweeted on September 22, 2017. He was commentating on how a Huntington Beach police officer fatally shot a young man during a struggle in front of a 7-Eleven store. It was later determined Huntington Beach Police Officer Eric Esparza "acted unreasonably" when he shot Dillan Tabares seven times outside the establishment, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, October 21, Baldwin shot and killed a crew member and injured another on the set of his latest film. “The sheriff’s office confirms that two individuals were shot on the set of Rust," Santa Fe County Sheriff Juan Rios revealed in a statement to The Sun. "Halyna Hutchins, 42, director of photography, and Joel Souza, 48, director, were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin, 68, producer and actor." The sheriff also confirmed that no charges had been filed at the time of writing pending investigation, adding that witnesses are currently being interviewed. 

Social media was quick to dig up Baldwin's 2017 tweet weighing in on the police officer's deadly confrontation. "Why create movies with guns if you are against them? Guess you probably should’ve learned more about them after today," one tweeted.

"This did not age well," another added.

"Wow there really is a tweet for everything," a comment read.
 
"So if he was the producer, does that mean the set and everything in it was his responsibility as well? Why would he not verify the "prop" gun... which turned out to be a real gun. 100% owns this. Too bad he lectured us on guns and never took the time to learn himself," a user wrote.

"What u put into this Universe will always be what u receive in this Universe," another chimed in. 

However, some fans rushed to Baldwin's defense in response to the Twitter pile-on. "The trolls are here. Yeah now he knows and he’s probably f***ing devastated…. Jeeeezus," one wrote.

"People coming at him for accidentally killing someone. It was a prop gun. Blame the people making the movie on why it has bullets. I don’t know why we are comparing this tweet to his situation," another added.