Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Viral image

stated on October 25, 2021 in an Instagram post:

“Alec Baldwin arrested for first-degree murder and possession of child pornography.”

By Ciara O'Rourke October 29, 2021

No, Alec Baldwin wasn’t arrested for murder, child pornography

If Your Time is short

There’s no evidence to support the claim that Alec Baldwin was arrested. He has been photographed picking up food in public since this claim was made, and the prosecutor in the county that’s investigating the fatal shooting on the actor’s film set said it could be months before any criminal charges are filed in the case.

See the sources for this fact-check

The district attorney in Santa Fe County, N.M., said on Oct. 26 that she wasn’t ruling out criminal charges in the shooting that left Los Angeles cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead on the set of "Rust."

Actor Alec Baldwin was handling the gun that fired, but District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that her office was focused on figuring out what kind of round was in the gun and who had loaded the ammunition, the New York Times reported.

"It’s probably weeks, if not months, of follow-up investigation that we’re going to need to get to the point of charging," the Times quoted her as saying.

A more dramatic news headline now being shared on social media contradicts that narrative, and that’s because it’s not true.

"Alec Baldwin arrested for first-degree murder and possession of child pornography," the headline says.

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

It continues: "The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Alec Baldwin and charged him with first-degree murder as well as possession of child pornography, and ordered a media blackout that has been approved by a judge. Outlets in the United States are temporarily banned from reporting on Baldwin’s arrest."

Posts sharing it were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

A spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office did not return our calls asking about the claims.

Threads posts

stated on December 2, 2024 in a post

Former presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter issued pardons to a son and brother, respectively.

But there is nothing to support these allegations, and the website that posted this story has previously posted other misinformation that we’ve debunked, including claims that Brian Laundrie is alive in Mexico, that former President Barack Obama was arrested for espionage, and that Pope Francis was arrested.

This story about Baldwin’s supposed arrest was posted on the website on Oct. 23, several days before the New York Times story reporting that prosecutors were not close to filing criminal charges.

And since then, Fox News reported that Baldwin was seen picking up food in Vermont on Oct. 25. TMZ posted a photo of Baldwin there on what it said was Oct. 24.

We rate claims that he was arrested Pants on Fire!