Alec Baldwin Asked Comedian to 'Leave' Before Confrontation: 'Any Parent Would Have Lost Their Temper' (Exclusive Source)

• A source tells PEOPLE that Alec Baldwin "los(ing) his temper" at a comedian who accosted him on the street was something "any parent" in a similar situation would have done
• Baldwin's reaction came after the comedian, dressed as Donald Trump, made several disparaging remarks about the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
• The actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but a judge later dismissed the case during his trial in July 2024

A source is speaking out about Alec Baldwin's reaction to a comedian accosting him on the street.

On Monday, Feb. 24, a video on social media showed a person dressed as President Donald Trump, telling Baldwin, 66, that he would "offer [him] a total pardon" as Baldwin loaded luggage into a vehicle.

The comedian then made several disparaging remarks regarding the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died when a prop gun Baldwin was holding on set discharged with live ammunition inside. (Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but a judge later dismissed the case during his trial in July 2024.)

Regarding Baldwin's angry reaction to the comedian's comments, as seen in the video, a source tells PEOPLE that the Saturday Night Live alum and wife Hilaria Baldwin, "take the privacy and security of their children very seriously, and there's nothing more important to them than their family."

"This comedian saw this as an opportunity to gain notoriety and waited outside of his apartment building for Alec to come home, and while Alec was unloading his bag started screaming in his face," the insider adds. "Alec asked him to leave multiple times. Did Alec lose his temper? Yes."

"But would any parent have lost their temper when a stranger was screaming with their kids just a few feet away? Yes," the source concludes.

The video shows Baldwin eventually engaging briefly with the man, asking him, "You got a camera on me here?” before continuing, “You realize my kids live in this building?"

"I want you to know something. .. If this camera wasn’t here, I’d snap your f---ing neck in half and break your f---ing neck. You know that, don’t you?” he added.

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The Rust accident occurred on Oct. 27, 2021, when a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off on the set of the Western film and killed Hutchins, 42. He has maintained that he did not fire the gun and had no knowledge of it being loaded with real ammunition rather than dummy rounds.

A rep for Baldwin did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

During the premiere of his family's new TLC reality show The Baldwins on Sunday, Feb. 23, Baldwin and Hilaria, 41, opened up about the impact that the incident, along with the legal drama that followed, had on his mental health.

“This has been just surreal,” the actor told his wife in the debut episode. “I mean, I can't even believe that we're going through this, and I always feel more in pain about you than me, because I think to myself, well, you know, I'm going to try to my best to just get through it, and I think what it's done to you and how much it's hurt you and everything.”

He added in a confessional, “This past year was just terrible. There were times I'd lay in bed. I'd go, ‘Wow, my kids. I can't get up.’ That's not like me.”

Hilaria credited the seven children she and her husband share — daughters Ilaria, 2, María Lucía, 3, and Carmen, 11, plus sons Eduardo "Edu" Pao Lucas, 4, Romeo, 6, Leonardo, 7, and Rafael, 9 — for keeping them going. 

“I see how hard we're trying to create happy for them, even if we're masking stuff for ourselves,” she said. “I know that what we're going through is maybe unique, but every family goes through hard times, and that's something that we can feel a community of support, knowing that the best that we can do is do our best and try to make our kids happy, and so that's what we're doing.”