The closing arguments in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse have caused the name “Alex Baldwin” to trend on Twitter — despite its intended attempt to drag actor Alec Baldwin.
The whole thing started with a photograph of Wisconsin Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger holding Rittenhouse’s AR-15-style weapon in the courtroom during the trial’s closing arguments. In the photo, quickly becoming viral, Binger appears to have his finger on the trigger.
This prompted some conservatives to use the opportunity to try and dig at Baldwin, involved in his own gun-related tragedy. Last month, the actor fired a prop gun on the set of the film Rust in an incident still under investigation, resulting in the death of Halyna Hutchins, the film’s director of photography.
So, once a few conservative figureheads used the opportunity to compare Binger to “Alex Baldwin,” the rest of Twitter does what it does best and piled on rather mercilessly.
One remarked, “‘Alex’ Baldwin is trending because all the morons who think a woman’s accidental death is amusing can’t spell their way out of a paper bag.”
One coupled “Alex Baldwin is the worst of the Baldwin brothers” with one of the year’s most popular memes.
Another observed, “If you can’t tell the difference between Alec Baldwin and Alex Baldwin, you aren’t careful enough to carry an AR-15.”
Writer Wahajat Ali was just reduced to sighing.
Rittenhouse is facing charges of killing two men in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wis. The then-17-year-old traveled from his home in Antioch, Ill., armed with the aforementioned AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse testified he intended to act as a medic, as Kenosha was experiencing protests from an incident involving Jacob Blake, a then-29-year-old Black man who’d been left paralyzed after an encounter with police.
Rittenhouse later shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber. Gaige Grosskreutz, who was also 26 at the time, was injured in the fatal attack. Rittenhouse was initially facing seven counts, including first-degree intentional homicide.
NBC News reported Judge Bruce Schroeder, who has raised some critics’ eyebrows while presiding over the trial, dismissed one count of illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 prior to today’s closing arguments.