Donald Trump Jr defends T-shirts mocking Alec Baldwin shooting
Donald Trump Jr has defended selling T-shirts mocking Alec Baldwin’s fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The former president’s son began advertising the shirts with the words “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people” on Instagram after the actor accidentally shot Ms Hutchins with a gun on the set of his upcoming movie Rust in New Mexico.
The shirts are available on Mr Trump’s website for $27.99 (£20.34).
Mr Trump responded to critics of the shirts in an Instagram post on Monday, which featured a meme of his father pretending to hold a firearm.
“For those who are out there doing the fake sanctimony about leaving Alec Baldwin alone let’s all remember that Alec Baldwin would be the first person pissing on everyone’s grave if the shoes were on the other foot. Screw him!” the caption read.
Mr Trump has referenced the shooting in several Instagram posts ridiculing both Baldwin and gun control advocates.
On Sunday he shared a meme that said: “Let’s all watch Alec Baldwin blame the gun” - captioned: “It’s only a matter of time.”
An inflammatory post shared two days after the accident by Mr Trump showed another meme with a photo of Mr Baldwin: “That look when an anti-gun nut kills more people with a gun than your extensive firearm collection ever has…”
Mr Trump also shared multiple posts pointing to the need for an investigation into the incident.
Baldwin fired a loaded prop gun on the set of Rust on Thursday, killing Ms Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Ms Hutchins was pronounced dead after being transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital via helicopter, while Mr Souza is undergoing treatment at Christus St Vincent’s hospital and is in emergency care, officials from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Shortly after the incident, Baldwin said his “heart is broken” at the tragic incident and that he is fully cooperating with police officials.
Baldwin was seen “in tears” outside the sheriff’s office on Thursday night, local reports said. The visibly distressed actor was seen dressed in a navy T-shirt, holding a mask and doubled over in the office’s car parking while talking on a phone call, pictures shared on social media showed.
Police officials said that Baldwin has been cooperative in the investigation which remained “open and active” but no charges have been filed so far.
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