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Actor Alec Baldwin has spoken publicly for the first time since the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Western film Rust, calling it a “one in a trillion episode”.

The actor and his wife, Hilaria, stopped to speak to reporters on a roadside in Manchester, Vermont, and while Baldwin said he could not comment on the ongoing investigation, he described Ms Hutchins as “my friend”.

The district attorney has said it is too early to say whether  
 will be charged over the shooting
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Baldwin said Halyna Hutchins was a friend and he is in ‘constant contact’ with her family

“We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened,” Baldwin said.

“A woman died. She was my friend… When I arrived in Sante Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner.”

Ms Hutchins, 42, was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded after a gun Baldwin was holding discharged with a single live round on the set of Rust in New Mexico on 21 October.

Baldwin had been told the gun was safe and it remains unclear how live ammunition found its way on to the set.

The actor said he is cooperating with police as the investigation continues, but could not comment further.

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A view of the entrance to Bonanza Creek Ranch where Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on the movie set of the film "Rust" in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., October 22, 2021. REUTERS/Adria Malcolm
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Ms Hutchins, 42, died after Baldwin discharged a gun while filming his new movie Rust

Baldwin said he is in “constant contact” with Ms Hutchins’ husband and son, who he said are “mortified”.

“The guy is overwhelmed with grief. There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time but nothing like this,” Baldwin said.

“This is a one in a trillion event. He is in shock, he has a nine-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him cause we are very worried about him and his family.

“We are eagerly waiting for the sheriff’s department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.”

Baldwin went on to say that he support limits on the use of real guns in films and television shows to protect the safety of people on set, and thinks production of Rust will not start again.

Police in New Mexico said earlier this week that there was “some complacency” in how weapons were handled on the movie set, but it is too early to determine whether charges will be filed.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has said 500 rounds of ammunition – a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live rounds – were found while searching the set.

Detectives have recovered a lead projectile they believe the actor fired.

Testing is being done to confirm whether the projectile taken from Mr Souza’s shoulder was fired from the same long Colt revolver used by Baldwin.

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More victims expected after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

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More victims expected after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

A person has been killed and several others injured after a mass shooting and fire at a Mormon church in Michigan, police have said.

Authorities said at a news conference that the suspect was shot dead by police officers, and that nine others were injured.

Two of those were said to be in critical condition, Grand Blanc Township Chief William Renye told reporters.

Flames and smoke rising from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Pic: Julie J, @Malkowski6April / AP
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Flames and smoke rising from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Pic: Julie J, @Malkowski6April / AP

He added that the suspect was a 40-year-old man from Burton, who drove his vehicle into the church and began firing rounds at the hundreds of people attending Sunday service.

The suspect used an assault rifle and deliberately started the blaze, Chief Renye said, before adding that officers believe they will find additional victims in the fire.

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Pics: AP
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Pics: AP

The incident took place at around 11am local time at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit.

In a statement on Sunday morning, Grand Blanc Township Police Department added that the church was “actively on fire” and urged the public to avoid the area.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that “my heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community” after the shooting.

She added: “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly.”

Sheriff: ‘Entire church is on fire’

Genesee County sheriff Christopher Swanson said at around 12.20pm (5.20pm in the UK) that the “entire church is on fire”, and confirmed that people who were at the church have been evacuated.

Around 20 minutes later, the police department said the fire had been contained.

The incident took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc
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The incident took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc

US attorney general Pam Bondi also confirmed the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to the incident.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that “the suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn”, before saying the shooting “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.

He added: “PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”

In the wake of the shooting and fire, the New York Police Department said it would deploy officers to religious institutions across the city “out of an abundance of caution”.

The incident occurred the morning after Russell M Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101.

Shootings reported in North Carolina, New Orleans, Texas

Meanwhile, authorities responded to a mass shooting at a coastal town in North Carolina late on Saturday, where three people were killed.

At least eight others were injured in that incident, where someone opened fire from a boat into a crowd at a bar.

Another shooting took place at a south Texas casino early on Sunday, with seven people shot and two killed.

A woman was also killed, and three others were injured in Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early on Sunday after a shooting.

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‘I’m not so careful with what I say’ – is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

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'I'm not so careful with what I say' - is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.

Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”

The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.

Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.

President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk's widow Erika. Pic: AP
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President Donald Trump embraces Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika. Pic: AP

Twenty-four hours later, he drew fierce rebuke from medical experts by linking the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy to increased risk of autism.

The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.

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‘Paracetamol use in pregnancy perfectly safe’

On Tuesday, he went to the United Nations, where his frustrations over a stalled escalator and teleprompter failure were the prelude to the most combative address.

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“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.

Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters
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Mr Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York. Pic: Reuters

Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.

Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.

It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.

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Trump’s major shift in Ukraine policy

Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.

In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.

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Ex-FBI chief: ‘Costs to standing up to Trump’

Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.

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Trump: ‘Looks like we have a deal’ to end war in Gaza

From funerals to world summits, world peace to public health, he projects the same image: rules are for others.

It is the politics of the untouchable.

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Donald Trump orders deployment of US troops to ‘war-ravaged’ Portland

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Donald Trump orders deployment of US troops to 'war-ravaged' Portland

Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of US troops to “war-ravaged Portland” in the state of Oregon, authorising the use of “full force” if needed.

The US president said he was directing US defence secretary Pete Hegseth to make the move in order to protect the city “and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists”.

Mr Trump did not specify whether he would send in National Guard troops or the US military.

The move comes after a gunman opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Dallas on Wednesday, wounding two detainees and killing another.

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Fatal shooting at ICE facility in Dallas

The ICE facility in Portland has been targeted by protesters since June, sometimes leading to violent clashes.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said demonstrators had “repeatedly attacked and laid siege to an ICE processing centre” there, adding that several arrests were made.

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“Rose City Antifa, a recently designated domestic terrorist organization, illegally doxed ICE officers. They published their home address online and on public flyers. Individuals associated with Antifa also sent death threats to DHS personnel,” DHS wrote on X.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Mr Trump said “anarchy” was taking place in Portland.

He said: “You go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. Portland is, I don’t know how anybody lives there. It’s amazing, but it’s, it’s anarchy out there. That’s what they want. They want anarchy.”

In separate comments, Mr Trump said people were “out of control” in Portland and pledged to “stop that very soon”.

People protest against the Trump's immigration policies in Portland. Pic: Reuters
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People protest against the Trump’s immigration policies in Portland. Pic: Reuters

ICE agents charge towards protesters in Portland. Pic: Reuters
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ICE agents charge towards protesters in Portland. Pic: Reuters

After Mr Trump’s announcement, Oregon’s Democratic governor Tina Kotek said she was reaching out to the White House for more information.

“We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm,” she said.

Read more: Trump threatens to move World Cup games from ‘unsafe’ host cities

Portland’s mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement that the “number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city”.

But Republicans supported the move. US labour secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who previously served as a Republican house representative for an Oregon district, said she had seen how “lawlessness” had turned Portland into a “crime-ridden war zone”.

In a post on X, she thanked Mr Trump “for taking action to keep our ICE facilities protected and Make America Great Again”.

Trump has sent military troops to the Democratic-controlled cities of Los Angeles and Washington DC so far in his second presidency. He has also discussed doing the same in Memphis and New Orleans, which are also Democratic strongholds.

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