Last week cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally killed when Alec Balwin while shooting for a scene in 'Rust' fired a prop gun that had live rounds. Since then 'Rust' has been in the news with tributes pouring in from all corners for Hutchins.
While it is still being debated who is to be held responsible for Hutchins' death, a new claim has been doing the rounds on social media that has left many confused. On Monday, a rumor started circulating that Hutchins had posted a Tweet about Hillary Clinton shortly before she died wherein she wrote that she has information that could lead the Clinton's arrest. However, the claim is baseless as she has no relation with Clinton.
The Origin
The implication of the claim is that Hutchins was actually killed in a planned manner and didn't die in an accident as Clinton and her allies wanted to silence her. According to the claim doing the rounds on social media, Hutchins apparently Tweeted: "I have information that will lead to Hillary Clinton's arrest."
This led many to speculate that Hutchins was murdered. Interestingly, the tweet can't be found online except for on social media. Moreover, there is a @HalynaHutchins Twitter account but the account is relatively new. It was started in April 2021 and it doesn't seem messages have been posted from the account.
Instead, Hutchins was more active on Instagram. Her Instagram account is verified and she posted about working on 'Rust' and how the film gave her a chance to ride horses, how she stood with her crew, and about the incredible views in New Mexico. In fact, none of her posts are political.
To put it in a simpler was Hutchins doesn't seem to have any relation with Clinton at all.
The Truth
The tweet looks genuine but there are a lot of doubts. First, the @HalynaHutchins account on Twitter is not verified. That is obvious if she hasn't tweeted anything from that account at all. But the account that is shown in the doctored meme has a verified symbol against her name. It seems likely that this tweet was created with one of several "fake tweet" generators.
So it can safely be said that the tweet is doctored and is just one of the many conspiracy theories that have tried to link a high-profile death to the Clintons. This claim is nothing but baseless and false.
That said, this is not the only misinformation to circulate in the wake of Hutchins' death. On Sunday, a claim started doing the rounds on Instagram by one of the users named @ryanweavercountry. The post straightaway claimed that Halyna Hutchins' husband Matt Hutchins was the lawyer associated with Hillary Clinton who was indicted in the U.S. Justice Department's Russia probe on September 16 for making a false statement to FBI investigators.
That claim too turns out to be false. The attorney who was actually indicted was Michael Sussmann, who has no relation or link with Matt Hutchins. The only faint relation that can be drawn between Matt Hutchins and Sussmann is the firm the former works for. Matt Hutchins works at the law firm Latham & Watkins, the same company the two attorneys, Sean Berkowitz and Michael Bosworth, who were representing Sussmann, work at.
