The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is demanding answers after agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives gunned down the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.
Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to ATF Director Steven Dettelbach “demanding documents and communications regarding the ATF's planning and execution of the deadly pre-dawn raid conducted in Little Rock, Arkansas, while executing a search warrant on the home of Bryan Malinowski.”
Malinowski had worked for the Clinton National Airport for 16 years, as deputy executive director from 2008 to 2019 and as executive director since 2019.
Agents conducted a predawn raid of Malinowski's home for selling guns from his private collection without a federal license.
Malinowski reportedly believed the agents were burglars and fired in perceived self-defense. Agents disabled Malinowski's home security cameras, and reportedly were not wearing personal body cameras, which is in reported violation of agency policies.
“The circumstances surrounding the raid, the subsequent death of Mr. Malinowski, and recent related rulemaking by the ATF raises serious questions about the weaponization of the agency against Americans. ATF has not explained why it resorted to a forceful entry of Mr. Malinowski's home when it could have peacefully executed the warrant while he was away from his residence, and it is not clear whether ATF agents complied with other Biden Justice Department policies,” the Judiciary Committee wrote in a statement.
In his letter to Director Dettelbach, Jordan wrote, in part:
“In the early morning hours of March 19, 2024, armed ATF agents arrived at the Malinowski family home in at least ten vehicles to execute a search warrant. According to the warrant, the ATF alleged that Mr. Malinowski was selling firearms without a license. Footage from the Malinowskis' doorbell camera shows ATF agents approaching the house with riot shields and subsequently disabling the camera to prevent their conduct from being recorded. Upon hearing the commotion and fearful of a home intrusion, Mr. Malinowski awoke and prepared to defend his family. Mr. Malinowski encountered what he and his wife believed to be home intruders. An exchange of gunfire ensued, Mr. Malinowski was shot in the head, and he died from his wounds two days later.
“The circumstances of Mr. Malinowski's death raise questions about whether the ATF followed proper protocol during the execution of this search warrant. Department of Justice policy and President Biden's Executive Order 14074 requires ATF agents—including those who conducted the search warrant on March 19, 2024—to wear active body-worn cameras during the execution of a search warrant. The Department has since confirmed to the Malinowski family that ATF agents were not wearing body cameras during the raid, a violation of the Department policy.
“It is also unclear whether ATF agents complied with Justice Department policy on “no knock” entries. That policy, issued on September 13, 2021 by Deputy Attorney General Monaco, directs the ATF and other federal law enforcement agencies ‘to limit the circumstances in which agents may seek to enter a dwelling pursuant to a warrant without complying with the “knock and announce” rule.' In explaining the rationale for this policy, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco noted that ‘because of the risk posed to both law enforcement and civilians during the execution of “no knock” warrants, it is important that this authority be exercised in the most compelling circumstances.' Furthermore, Monaco directed that the use of ‘no knock' entries should be restricted to instances in which an ‘agent has reasonable grounds to believe at the time the warrant is sought that knocking and announcing the agent's presence would create an imminent threat of physical violence to the agent and/or another person.' ATF has not explained why it resorted to a no knock entry of Mr. Malinowski's home when it could have peacefully executed the warrant while he was away from his residence.
“ATF's pre-dawn, no-knock raid of the Malinowski home coincided with the agency's implementation of a regulation to restrict the right to private lawful sales of firearms. In particular, ATF seeks to drastically expand the universe of Americans who would be classified as a ‘dealer' under federal law requiring them to obtain a license to become a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), subjecting them to a term of imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Mr. Malinowski exercised his Second Amendment rights and was a firearms enthusiast. Even if, as ATF has alleged, Mr. Malinowski violated federal law, it does not justify ATF's actions that ultimately lead to the use of deadly force.”
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