Remember the ATF shoot out with the head of the Bill & Hillary Clinton Airport in Little Rock?

Bryan Malinowski, the executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field was shot in the head by federal officers in a shootout at his home as the ATF “attempted to serve a search warrant at his home”.

It was reported that the ATF agents involved in the raid were not wearing body cameras, despite Department of Justice policies and an Executive Order by President Biden requiring agents to wear body cameras during the execution of search warrants. This lack of body cam footage has raised serious concerns and questions about the ATF’s compliance with these policies and the transparency of their actions during the raid.

The incident occurred on March 19, 2024, when ATF agents were serving a search warrant at Malinowski’s home in west Little Rock.

According to reports, the ATF agents arrived at Malinowski’s residence around 6 a.m. to execute the warrant. The agents claimed that Malinowski fired at them from inside the house, prompting them to return fire. Malinowski was shot during the exchange and later died from his injuries. An ATF agent was also injured in the shootout but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

It appears that the ATF agents cut the power to Bryan Malinowski’s house and covered his Ring camera with tape during the raid. This information comes from various sources, including the attorney representing the Malinowski family, Bud Cummins, who released two videos from the ATF’s raid on the airport director’s residence. The first video shared by Cummins was recorded by a neighbor’s camera and shows ATF agents arriving in the neighborhood in about 10 vehicles. The video also shows an ATF agent covering up the camera with a piece of tape.

The search warrant was part of an investigation into allegations that Malinowski had purchased over 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024, which he then resold without a dealer’s license. Some of the firearms were “reportedly connected to crimes across the U.S. and Canada”. The affidavit related to the search warrant stated that Malinowski would buy the guns legally by checking off a box on a purchase form agreeing that the firearm was meant for him, and then resell them privately, often within 24 hours of purchase.

Malinowski’s base annual salary was close to $264,000, making him the highest-paid official working for the city of Little Rock. He appears to have been a calm and level-headed chief executive, guiding the airport and the concomitant demands on travel thorough the pandemic. Is it likely he would be wheeling and dealing in illegal firearms for some spare change?

The lack of transparency, aggressive tactics, political implications, public reaction, legal implications, policy implications, and public perception all point to a need for a thorough examination of the tainted ATF.