American actor and producer Alec Baldwin engaged in a shouting match with anti-Israel protesters in Manhattan on Monday night, which was captured in several videos that have since gone viral.
Baldwin, 65, was spotted on West 29th Street in Manhattan by the pro-Palestinian protesters, one of whom assailed the star of the 2023 movie “Supercell” over his apparent refusal to condemn Israel for its military actions against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, multiple outlets reported.
Baldwin was subsequently led by policemen away from the demonstrators, who proceeded to follow him, taunting him over his perceived support for the Jewish state, as well as over his fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer with a misfired prop gun while filming the movie “Rust.”
A source close to Baldwin was later quoted by entertainment magazine Us Weekly as saying that the actor had had “no intention of going to the protest and was not involved in any way.” According to the source, Baldwin had been going “to volunteer to teach an acting class” in Manhattan when the demonstrators approached him.
In one widely circulated video, a pro-Palestinian protester demands to know if Baldwin condemns Israel for “the actions they’ve committed against Gazan children,” given he “work[s] for Hollywood,” evoking a storied antisemitic theme by implying that the filmmaking powerhouse is in cahoots with a shadowy Jewish lobby.
In the clip, Baldwin appears indignant at the notion that he is “in Hollywood’s pockets” and therefore supports alleged Israeli war crimes. Raising his voice, Baldwin is seen closing in on the protester, telling him it was a “stupid question” and telling him to ask a “smart question” if he wanted answers.
The video then shows policemen leading Baldwin away as a protester follows, telling the actor to “go f*** [him]self” and asking him: “Why did you even come here?” Baldwin, walking away, tells his agitator to “shut the f*** up.”
In a later exchange, reported by the Daily Mail based on a longer video, protesters continued following Baldwin, who told the crowd to “stop crying,” adding: “I want peace for Gaza, though.” According to the report, someone in the crowd responded by taunting the actor for his part in the fatal accident on the set of “Rust,” saying: “You did kill someone though, right? You’re a murderer.”
In October 2021, while shooting the film “Rust” on a ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, a prop gun given to Baldwin misfired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. It is unclear why the prop gun was armed with a live bullet.
Baldwin has denied any wrongdoing. He was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter, but in April, New Mexico prosecutors dropped the charges when they discovered a malfunction in the gun. Nevertheless, in October it was announced that Baldwin may be criminally culpable, and that prosecutors aim to renew the charges against him.
Pro-Palestinian rallies have become a regular sight in major American cities and universities, decrying the massive civilian casualties caused by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s brutal October 7 onslaught, during which some 3,000 terrorists breached the Gaza border and murdered some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 240 hostages.
The protests often feature chants of “From the river to the sea,” widely understood to be a coded call for the elimination of israel.
According to the Daily Mail, the anti-Israel protest where Baldwin was accosted was one of several in New York City that day, some of which were held at major transit hubs Penn Station and Grand Central Station. The demonstrations were organized by Within Our Lifetime, a Palestinian-led organization founded in 2015.