On October 21, 2021, Matt Hutchins lost the love of his life due to Alec Baldwin's careless handling of a gun.  Matt's wife, Halyna, a promising cinematographer, was working on the set of Baldwin's movie, Rust, when Baldwin fatally shot her.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Baldwin reacted as a normal human being might be expected to react if he were responsible for another human being's accidental death.  Baldwin met with Matt, as well as Matt's and Halyna's son, Andros.  Baldwin wore black, looked appropriately miserable, hugged the bereaved father and son, and took to social media to describe his devastation.

However much Baldwin was actually grieved by Halyna's death, though, his sorrow didn't last very long.  Baldwin, a man with contempt for the guns from which he has made his living, and for the NRA, an organization dedicated to teaching people how to handle guns safely, sat down with ABC News to insist he was not responsible for Halyna's death.  Even though every single protocol that has been put in place to eliminate the possibility of an accidental shooting was neglected on the set of Rust, and Baldwin himself did not follow the most basic rules of gun safety, still, somehow, he had nothing to do with Halyna's death.  He was a victim just as much as she was.

Image: Matt Hutchins.  YouTube screen grab.

Now Matt Hutchins has some words for Baldwin.  Matt granted an interview to NBC News to say, "The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me. ... Watching him I just felt so angry.  I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her."

Halyna's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin.  His response to the announcement of the lawsuit was to post a video of him cuddling with his children.  His reaction to Matt's angry words was to post a bizarre tweet about telling the truth.

I can only imagine the pain Halyna's family is going through.  The wrongful death lawsuit cannot bring Halyna back, but perhaps it will serve to rein in the arrogance of a celebrity who thought a few crocodile tears would be sufficient payment for the loss of a valuable woman.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of The Pardon, a story of forgiveness based on the thief on the cross in the Bible.