Does Alec Baldwin Deserve Sympathy for Hitting Phone of Pro-Palestinian Activist?
Does Alec Baldwin Deserve Sympathy for Hitting Phone of Pro-Palestinian Activist?
Actor with a long history of aggressive behavior and assaults faces trial for killing his cinematographer on "Rust" set because he has "no control of his own emotions"
Alec Baldwin slapped the phone away from an anti-Israel protester who harassed him in a New York coffee shop. For this, he’s getting sympathy and support on social media from influential people.
However, Baldwin has a history of violent behavior and assaulting random people. Also, his trial on an involuntary manslaughter charge for the death of his cinematographer on the “Rust” movie set is coming up in June. The trial prosecutors have filed documents saying Baldwin has “absolutely no control of his own emotions.”
Pro Palestine v Baldwin
Watch the video on the encounter with the liberal activist known as Crackhead Barney below:
“Crackhead” is extremely annoying and would make anyone want to scream back.
Baldwin was right to refuse to say “Free Palestine” and “F--k Israel.” He was smart to not respond when she referred to the “Rust” shooting by saying, “You killed that lady and got no jail time.”
But does he deserve all the credit he got from influential people and social media for punching at her cell phone?
Pro Baldwin Voices:
Megyn Kelly, the enormously popular podcaster (who I know and like a ton) posted on X:
Team Baldwin. You deserved it “Crackhead.”
Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer wrote:
Alec Baldwin is my new hero! Guy just wanted to get coffee, then a Hamas fangirl @CHBAF accosted him, repeatedly demanding: "Just say 'Free Palestine' and I'll leave you alone, just one time."
Christian author and speaker Eric Metaxas wrote:
If you hate Alec Baldwin -- who is NOT a murderer -- and cannot stand w/him when he is in the right, you're channeling the demonic spirit of cancel culture, and God cannot use you. Stand with the truth no matter what.
Outkick’s Clay Travis wrote:
I actually think Alec Baldwin was fairly chill here. Shoving phones in people’s faces and walking around filming them while demanding they repeat your favored political slogans isn’t normal or commendable behavior. The recorder is the bad guy here.
Walk away?
None of these people seem to consider that well-known hothead Baldwin could have just walked out, not hit the phone and avoided most of the viral video. But that’s not his pattern.
Instead, the actor told the coffee shop employee to kick the woman out of the store and call the police for “harassment.”
Outside, The Daily Mail got photos (above) of Baldwin and “Crackhead Barney” continuing the physical conflict outside.
Prosecutors: Baldwin had no control over his emotions
In July, Baldwin will face a New Mexico journey for the involuntary manslaughter charges against him for shooting and killing Halyna Hutchins.
Earlier this month, the special prosecutors filed a 400-plus-page response to Baldwin’s request to dismiss the indictment. In the document, they wrote about the actor’s actions:
In addition to rushing the cast and crew, Mr. Baldwin was frequently screaming and cursing at himself, at crew members or at no one and not for any particular reason.
To watch Mr. Baldwin's conduct on the set of is to witness a man who has absolutely no control of his own emotions and absolutely no concern for how his conduct effects those around him.
Witnesses have testified that it was this exact conduct that contributed to safety compromises on set.
Baldwin’s aggressiveness was part of the chain of events that led him to point a loaded gun at Hutchins and pull the trigger.
Baldwin’s Violent History
While Baldwin is getting virtual high-fives for hitting a phone and not using anti-Israel rhetoric, people seem to have forgotten his long history of physical assaults. Here are my top five:
Baldwin was arrested and charged in 2018 for punching Wojciech Cieszkowski on the head over a parking space in front of his building.
My good friend Tara Palmeri of Puck News tweeted at the time that the incident was not out of character:
Alec Baldwin also told me "I hope you choke to death" when I was on assignment, staking out his house
Baldwin pled guilty to harassing Cieszkowski and was ordered to pay a fine and take anger management classes. A few months after the “Rust” shooting in early 2022, Baldwin settled civil cases with Cieszkowski— probably hoping to get that case out of the spotlight.
Baldwin got into a fight with a paparazzo photographer in 2013 and was photographed pushing the man against a car. (Photo above from ET.)
In 2012, “New York Daily News” photographer Marcus Santos claimed Baldwin punched him outside the Manhattan marriage license bureau. Santos told police that Baldwin punched him on the chin.
Baldwin said Santos hit him with his cameras. The Manhattan DA declined to charge the actor.
This event…