‘This is not over,’ said the attorney for the family of Bryan Malinowski, former executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.
An armed ATF agent reaches toward the doorbell camera at the home of Bryan Malinowski, moments before disabling the video and breaching the door with a tactical team, in a predawn raid March 19, 2024. (Malinowski Family via Bud Cummins)
The use of deadly force was legal and justified in the ATF’s March 19, early morning shooting death in the West Little Rock, Arkansas home of Bryan Malinowski, according to Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones. In a June 14 letter, Mr. Jones announced there would be no charges in the case.
Mr. Malinowski was executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock until that morning, when a convoy of 10 law enforcement vehicles rolled into his upscale neighborhood and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), holding automatic rifles in the ready position, placed tape on his video doorbell, announced their presence, and in less than one minute, broke into the home while he was sleeping.
Mr. Malinowski, a gun collector, woke up, grabbed his gun, exchanged gunfire with the ATF, and Mr. Malinowski was shot dead in front of his wife.
The ATF had obtained a warrant to search his home for guns and evidence. The agency believed Mr. Malinowski was selling guns without a $200 Federal Firearms License (FFL) and without asking buyers for the proper information. According to an affidavit of probable cause, some of the guns he had sold were recovered during the commission of a crime, although the crimes did not involve the direct use of guns.