LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee on Monday asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to provide documents and information about the raid last month on the home of the Little Rock airport director, who was killed after a shootout with officers who carried out a search. deposit.
Rep. Jim Jordan made the request as state police said it is sending the findings of the investigation into the shooting to the local prosecutor to determine if it was justified.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents executed an arrest warrant at his Little Rock home on March 19. The ATF said officers returned fire after Malinowski fired at the officers, striking and wounding one of them.
An affidavit released after the shooting said that between May 2021 and February 2024, Malinowski purchased more than 150 guns that he resold without a dealer’s license. In his letter to the agency, Jordan questioned whether ATF protocols were followed during the pre-dawn raid.
“Mr. Malinowski exercised his Second Amendment rights and was a firearms enthusiast,” Jordan wrote in the letter. “Even if, as ATF has alleged, Mr. Malinowski violated federal law, this does not justify ATF’s actions that ultimately lead to the use of lethal force.”
An ATF spokesman confirmed it had received Jordan’s letter but said the agency could not comment further, noting that the shooting was under review by Arkansas authorities.
Arkansas State Police said it would forward the file from its investigation to the local prosecutor on Tuesday to determine whether the shooting was justified. Such investigations would not include a recommendation, state police said, and would not review the agency’s tactics.
“We do not have the authority to address the methods and tactics used, or whether agency protocols and policies were followed,” Col. Mike Hagar, the state police chief, said in a statement. “Any administrative oversight of tactics would be subject to the internal review of that agency – in this case, the U.S. Department of Justice – and is not part of the scope of what ASP is authorized to review.”
The Malinowski family has called the ATF’s tactics in the raid “completely unnecessary” and said the airport director was awakened by the sound of his door falling. An attorney for Malinowski’s family has said he was a gun collector and was unaware he was under investigation for reselling firearms at gun shows.
Malinowski’s death has drawn criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas, who have called for more information from the ATF. Jordan’s letter comes days after Arkansas Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman said the Justice Department confirmed to them that officers executing the search warrant were not wearing body cameras.
Jordan’s letter seeks all documents and communications related to the planning and execution of the search warrant at Malinowski’s home. The congressman’s letter also seeks documents related to the agency’s implementation of a 2021 memo from the Deputy Attorney General regarding no-knock warrants. The letter asked the agency to provide the information by May 6.
