It appears no one will be held criminally accountable for ATF’s botched March 19 raid, during which 53-year-old Little Rock airport executive Bryan Malinowski was shot and killed in his own home. The post-shooting investigation is as flawed as ATF’s choice of tactics, which caused the killing.
Whenever a law enforcement officer kills someone, two separate investigations take place. The first is usually conducted by local officials who determine whether the officer should be charged with murder. The second investigation is conducted by the officer’s employer and determines whether the officer violated policy in any way.
The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) investigated the Malinowski shooting. However, Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar made a chilling statement late last month after his agency finished its investigation and sent the case to Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones.
“We do not have the authority to address methods and tactics used or whether agency protocols and policies were followed,” Col. Hagar said in a statement. “Any administrative oversight of tactics would fall to that agency’s – in this case, the U.S. Department of Justice – internal review and is not part of the scope of what ASP is authorized to review.”
Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones confirmed on social media that the case is now “under review.”
Sixth Judicial District prosecutors have received the case file from the March 19 agent-involved shooting of Bryan Malinowski. The file, including all evidence, is under review. #ARNews pic.twitter.com/ms4IdFM8ip
— Pulaski and Perry County Prosecuting Attorney (@SixthJudicialPA) April 23, 2024
Col. Hagar’s statement appears almost apologetic in nature. He must know nothing will happen now, because his CID did not address ATF’s flawed raid tactics, which directly caused the shooting.
If it is distilled down to the base level, the shooting is simple. Malinowski shot at ATF agents, one of whom returned fire and shot him in the head. However, in order for justice to be served, a host of extenuating circumstances should have been addressed in the investigation, since this is far from a typical officer-involved shooting.
To be clear, ATF’s flawed tactics forced Malinowski to defend himself. He believed he was under attack by armed home invaders. But if investigators and now prosecutors didn’t address this, the case is over. No one will be held accountable for Malinowski’s death.
Col. Hagar’s claim that ATF will conduct some type of administrative review of its own raid tactics is laughable. The ATF has never held any of its agents accountable for civilian deaths. Fast and Furious, Ruby Ridge and Waco taught us that. Besides, agents didn’t even have an arrest warrant for Malinowski. All they had was a warrant to search his home. Agents listed a host of allegations in their search warrant affidavit, but Malinowski had yet to be charged with any crime.
Poor tactics
ATF has been widely criticized for their tactics used during the Malinowski raid.
House Judiciary Committee Chair, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has ordered ATF to turn over all documents related to the case.
The Arkansas Attorney General and both of the state’s Republican Senators have demanded answers, because ATF had a host of less-lethal tactical options available, which they did not use.
For example, ATF could have arrested Malinowski at the Clinton National Airport, where he served as executive director. They could have pulled him over on his way home and arrested him in his vehicle. They could have called his attorney and told him to turn in his client. Or, once the home was surrounded, agents could have contacted Malinowski on his cellphone — they knew the number since they had a warrant to search his phone — and ordered him to come out with his hands up. If he didn’t answer his phone, a bullhorn would have sufficed.
A video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera shows that agents arrived at Malinowski’s home in 10 separate vehicles. If they would have activated the emergency lights in all of these squad cars, Malinowski’s entire neighborhood would have been bathed in red flashing lights. Malinowski would have known immediately there were law enforcement officers stacked outside his home and not criminal home invaders.
No comment
No one was willing to discuss this case.
Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar was unavailable to be interviewed, according to his staff.
Arkansas State Police Major Stacie Rhoads, who commands the Criminal Investigation Division, did not return emails or messages left with her staff.
Sixth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones did not return calls or messages left with his staff.
Neither Caroline Tabler nor Patrick McCann, communications staffers for Senator Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, returned calls seeking comments for this story.
Joshua Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s New Orleans Field Division, did not return calls seeking comment for this story or messages left with his staff.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
The entire agency should pay for this. It would not be the first agency to be disbanded for screwing up. Remember the Federal Bureau of Narcotics? It was disbanded for what they did to the home owners when the FBN went to the wrong address.
The BATFE was created by a memo, not an act of Congress. Thus they can be disbanded by a memo, and no act of Congress would be needed.
Bill, I’m all in for abolishing the ATF by any means possible. Literally by any means possible! Once President Trump is back in the WH, someone needs to explain to him how easy it would be to accomplish that by a simple memo. My concern is the socialists tyrants may try and prevent this from happening by one of their rules. They seem to create some kind rule for things they want ,and things they don’t! They don’t need Congress at all, they have rules. Would that memo be rule proof?
He needs to pull an O’dummer if he can and write an executive order to abolish it and then say just what the Kenyan said, let them fight it out in court if it is legal or not (DACA). Some say the agency was made without congress and a president made it so it can be removed the same way. My wife says that the way it was tacked onto another agency and then split apart and was removed from that agency and became a new agency, we are screwed and that is a typical leftist tactic to circumvent the… Read more »
A memo revoking a prior memo. How much clearer could that be. As a practical matter there would have to be a second memo to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) listing all the persons that were no longer employed as of a date certain. But that is just clerk work. Guessing what some group may try to do in response is just the parade of imaginary horribles. Trump in his next presidency needs to show the bureaucracy that he is truly the BOSS. He can only do that by firing people. Firing a whole agency would be a good… Read more »
Outrageous! I love it…………
If we are to get our republic back from the deep state bureaucrats, then mass firings may be necessary.
Getting ready to hay, here, beautiful weather!
Same here Bill. The weather anyway. First time in a long time we have hit 80 in May. Won’t last too long, maybe another day or two and then cooler they say. Problem is: They are already espousing fire danger. Pretty darn early for that but, we did not get a decent snowpak this year/last winter. It is nice to feel the sun on your face again.
Yes, with the right actions, the whole place could be beautiful haying weather.
HLB
That time and date being 5pm January 20, 2025
Article claims that tactics were poorly selected. I would argue that tactics were carefully selected to achieve desired results. They sought an excuse to kill Mr Malinowski, in order to intimidate all other gun owners. They succeeded in achieving nominal cover for killing him, which almost certainly intimidates others. Isn’t use of violence or threats of violence in order to intimidate population in pursuit of political goals the very definition of terrorism? This raid was a terrorist operation. Not on scale of October 7th or 911, but with similar goals. While agents directly involved should face consequences as “following orders”… Read more »
I think you are exactly correct. How else could they effectively intimidate the maximum number of gun hobbyists? I am convinced the killing was pre-planned and carried out exactly as it unfolded. The trigger-puller is guilty of murder in the first. The agency is guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. And sadly, no one will pay the price.
Big question? Hun unh…NO QUESTION.
Lon Horuichi belongs in jail too.
I bet you could toss everyone involved with the ATF in prison and you’d be more right than wrong about them committing one or more crimes.
That scumbag cold blooded murdered Vicky Weaver at Ruby Ridge and is still living free as a bird in Hawaii. The gutter trash at FBI still provides 24/7 protection for that son of a bitch too.
When will Holder and Obama ever pay for their crimes at F&F?
Ope, I don’t want to argue but I have a point to make that I would like to share with you and I am open to debate if that is what you are willing to do because I believe that we are all here to learn, help and educate each other. If the left can forgive the bitch BATF Richard M. Rodgers that murdered the people in Waco, the bastard that shot the Weaver, Harris and Viki at Ruby ridge, Holder and Obama for the death of a border patrolman and Obidum for killing 11 Marines, I find it much… Read more »
Music, I was all in for President Trump picking Gov.Noem as his VP running mate in ‘24. Then she decides to shoot and kill her puppy because she says it couldn’t be trained ,and was aggressive and stupid. Then minutes after killing her dog, she decides to kill her restrained goat because she said it was also mean and stupid. At the time she didn’t realize it but both of those killings were witnessed by construction workers. Then ,if that wasn’t enough ,she decides to flat out lie about meeting NK leader Kim, and admitted she lied. This is not… Read more »
I didn’t know about the lie about North Korea. There was someone else on here about a month ago that said they lived in SD and that she was bad and that the news wasn’t telling us the truth. Did you see her say that she lied or did you read it from a section of her book so you know it is not a leftist lie? I would think you did but I am asking for a friend. LOL If you did that means you are right and she would be trouble for Trump regardless of shooting the animals… Read more »
If Ope is calling the dog a “puppy” then you know he is just parroting the blather from talking heads.
The only thing I know and have read has been on this board. It’s not worth my time and as I expressed that I would still vote for Trump if he chose her.
Trump/whoever 2024
Ope, I happened to catch an interview with Noem on Jesse Watters the other day. She was able to satisfy my irk at killing two animals because they were dangerous to her children and others with their aggressiveness. However when Jesse, mind you, he wasn’t not going easy on her, asked her about her time with the leader of N. Korea, she became very evasive and I began looking at her as a snake, the Garden of Eden type. Trump will shun her for vice, I hope. I pray
As a rule, I compketely agree with your logic in acting 180 degrees from whatever the Left wants, thinks, says, believes etcetera. I am just not convinced it applies to Noem.
The only American female politician I have observed with the level of seriousness, gravitas, and real world insight I think needed for high office is Lake, and nobody else likes her.
You know, I have read plenty of what you have stated in the past and I bet you can understand this. It’s not who I like, it is who is best for the job. I think Trump is the best choice for president so whoever he choses I will vote for him. Even if he chose, God forbid, Hitlary or Mike Obummer. We know he is smarter that and he wont but I am expressing the depth in which I want and feel we need him to be our next President, AGAIN!!!!. TRUMP/ the dog catcher 2024. making my point… Read more »
The take away then is…. (no arrest warrant)
The ATF executed an innocent man in the privacy of his own home.
The author omitted another important fact. Why did the cover up the ring camera? The murder victim first act was probably to look at that after being startled awake by the jack booted thugs. Come on Congress, get off your ass and defund these worthless pecker heads!
Defunding is a good thing. Not only do all the ATF executioners go home, but we get to keep the money. Right?
HLB
I’m sure they’ll investigate themselves and find they’ve done nothing wrong. Yet another reason to end qualified immunity. This will continue until we start fighting back.
As a retired Police Officer ,this smells to me! If this raid was done by local law enforcement the feds would be in here boning the locals and on the media vilifying all of us.
Time to disband the ATF and FBI. Parcel out their overlapping duties to the toher agencies ,keep FBI forsenics lab and downsize that agency.
Reign in FBI to an investigative and tech advisory roll to state and local law enforcement.
If this raid had been done by local police the feds would be all over it, investigating the officers involved. But the feds seem to do what they want acting with total impunity. No oversight of their criminal actions.
If this Malinowski case is as true as described here, it deserves to be a front-and-center American national scandal.
One hundred and thirty years ago, France was rocked (and it lasted twelve years) all because of a wrongful persecution of an army captain. When the scandal concluded (they called it “The Affaire”), it cleaned house almost top to bottom. Why can’t that happen here?
JACK BOOTED EXECUTION AGENTS OF THE COMMUNIST OBAMA BIDEN REGIME. THE SAME ACTIONS BY THE CROWN AGAINST COLONISTS RESULTED IN A WAR. I AM OF THE OPINION ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY WAR IS LONG OVERDUE. LONG OVERDUE.
Predictable, sadly enough. Just like nothing will likely happen to the trigger happy Deputy who killed a USAF Airman in his apartment, who answered a series of suspicious knocks with his gun in hand, but pointed at the ground by his side. This BTW, was in the same county where “Acorn Man” did a mag dump on his own patrol vehicle which contained a handcuffed suspect, because an acorn hit his vehicle and startled him. His female supervisor joined him in firing on his vehicle, also.
There seems to be some serious training or other issues in that county.
Another murder where it will be swept under the carpet.
One by one the government is killing us, and we do nothing.
George Washington fought for this country for no reason.
So it seems.
But…
HLB
I’m shocked! Not!
Guilty. But he did not act alone. He had his ATF collaborators. Thus, just like any other gang killing, all those present similarly get charged with murder in the First Degree because it was planned. This was Ruby Ridge 2024.
Remember when new potential Hiree application were asked this question, that was soon deleted; Number(?), “Will you be willing to FIRE on Americans?” This INTENTIONAL bureaucratic maneuver now answers the “quiet question of American Citizens”. THE ANSWER IS YES; the new Hirees of the current ROUGE, FRAUDULENTLY INSTALLED REGIME ARE WILLING to FIRE at and even KILL American Citizens!!!! Mr. Malinowsky’s assassination proves this point!!
This article states that they did not have an arrest warrant, however the article goes on and on about how they could have arrested him at work, during a traffic stop, etc. How could they have arrested him without a warrant to simply execute a search warrant of his home? Please explain. Thank you.
Hopefully in the future, the old cliche “If memory serves….” will dictate accountability actions. Never forget.
Well, seeing that this investigation is headed to the biden controlled doj, you know that the agent that pulled the trigger will not be held accountable. The head of the atf was appointed by biden to do his dirty work on new gun laws and gun bans, so biden will have the doj not charge the agent.
List,please, of all brave taxpayer servant agents involved, addresses, phones, make/model/license….especially the brave lead dog shooter turned lead peep executioner…so We Peeps can extend our humble gratitude for bravery above’n’beyond. Brian Malinowski, Little Rock airport administrator, who the ATF “Little Rocked” recently, probably was over the traditional former line into actually being in the business……not sure why that is a crime…..oh, my bad, because we let them say it is. Believe ATF “Little Rocked” Malinowski….putting the “Fear of ATF” into We The Little Peeps’ heads….. as an example in preparation for the release of Diddlebug’s newest tyranny. There were so many other… Read more »
Well said. I do tire of the normal flow of life at our specialists agencies. I wonder if they eat lunch in their ATF atire.
HLB
this was premediated murder, much like other operations by the feds, pure and simple. if any one of those gang members had a bwc that showed malinowski shot first that would be plastered all over the media in support of the feds. but somehow an agency that has almost unlimited funds didn’t have bwc’s for their killtroopers to wear?
would like to see all the photocopied, individual reports from that incident.
Using the word that the COMMIEs in the DOinJ keeps using to PERSECUTE Individuals; INTENT. I declare that the INTENT of the ‘atf bureaucrats’ was to INSTALL FEAR! The INTENT was to INVADE a domicile of a known LEGAL GUN OWNER. The DEATH of the LEGAL HOME OWNER was a STRONG INTENDED END RESULT of the INVASION! NOT HAVING any “body cameras” was INTENTIONAL PLANNING of the BUREAUCRATS of the ‘atf’! Thus, there can be no RECORDED result of the PURPOSEFUL INTENTION of the ‘atf bureaucrats’. The CLAIM that “we do not have authority” to JUDGE what happened is a… Read more »
I don’t even have to read the article, the title is all that needs to be said,
NO $HIT !
So, is it beginning to look more like I am right now, that we need to dismantle the 100% corrupted legal system to end tragedies such as this?! You have a whole slew of low IQ agents running around unchecked, with guns galore, egos needing to be stoked and stroked, and this is the natural result!! That cretin Hagar has no balls and needs to be removed from his job for dereliction of duty! Whomever planned and gave the OK for this debacle need to be charged as accessories to murder, since all of the things that they obviously did… Read more »
What about the 100% self-serving deep state?
HLB
lol why does everyone always sound surprised. Your still denying the reality of the way things really are and have been.
Look,
All of us LEO’s (including myself) who have served Search and Arrest Warrants know this was bad, REAL bad,
We can debate, and analyze, say ‘this shouldn’t happen and that shouldn’t happen’ all day long.
But,
It’s all a lot of wasted breath and unneeded stress because there’s only ONE solution:
Get Rid of Biden!
THEN, and ONLY then, we can eradicate the cancer that has infected the Federal Government.
NOTHING will happen until we CUT THE HEAD off this chicken.
Get rid of Biden, get rid of ATF, downsize the hell out of the FBI, micromanage the hell out of DEA, and eliminate virtually all other armed federal agents from all agencies
The ATF agent who fired the shot that killed Malinowski probably did not commit any crime.
The ATF agent who directed the raid committed at least negligent homicide.