Arkansas lawmakers are demanding to see body-worn camera footage of a recent law enforcement raid that resulted in the death of an airport executive.
Bryan Malinowski, who served as executive director of Little Rock's Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, was killed after a shootout with federal agents last month. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed a search warrant on his Little Rock home after finding evidence of several illegal gun sales.
Agents entered his home at 6 a.m., and a shootout ensued. Malinowski later died in the hospital from gunshot wounds. His family's lawyer, former federal prosecutor Bud Cummins, acknowledges Malinowski shot at agents.
“We do not know who shot first, but it appears that Bryan shot approximately three times at a decidedly low angle, probably at the feet of the intruders who were roughly 30 feet away," Cummins said in a statement, adding he believes Malinowski did not know the people in his house were law enforcement.
Some Arkansas lawmakers and members of his family are demanding the release of body cam footage of the incident. They believe Malinowski’s rights were violated when ATF agents did not give him enough time to come to the door.
State Rep. Matt Duffield, R-Russellville, led the charge at a press conference at the State Capitol on Thursday. He said Malinowski died in the “pre-dawn light,” because 6 a.m. is too early to execute a search warrant.
“Why the pre-dawn raid? ATF knew where he lived. They knew where he worked, they knew his routine," Duffield said. "Why send full SWAT cars filled with tactical gear?”
On the search warrant, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe checked a box allowing the search to be conducted between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., meaning the time of the search was legal.
At the press conference, Duffield asked several rhetorical questions about whether the ATF agents were wearing body cameras.
“Where the hell is the footage?”
The ATF has an internal policy mandating they keep their body cameras on during raids. So far, the bureau has not released this footage to the public. Duffield said he and the other members of the legislature had “been presented nothing.”
The ATF provided an over 30-page affidavit detailing Malinowski’s links to alleged gun sales.
“He was a gun collector, and for some reason the ATF wanted to have a look,” Duffield said.
The ATF alleges Malinowski sold guns to criminals. After months of investigation, they found six of his guns on people “in the commission of a crime.” They also say three undercover agents bought guns from Malinowski. They said he did not first ask if they had a license to own firearms.
Supporters of Malinowski say this wasn't illegal because of what's known as “the gun show loophole.” Private sellers at gun shows had fewer regulations at the time of the raid. Recently, President Joe Biden has made moves to close the loophole.
The ATF said in their application for a warrant that they wanted to search his home and computers to see if had formed online “information networks” with other criminals. They also wanted to see if he possessed any gun paperwork documenting his ownership of the firearms.
“After he was killed, his wife was locked in the back seat of a police vehicle in her blood-stained nightgown and forced to sit for hours," Duffield said.
The warrant to search his property was not a “no-knock warrant," meaning Malinowski was supposed to be given time to come to the door. Because body cam footage isn't yet public, it's still unclear whether agents gave Malinowski time to come to the door.
His wife, Maer Malinowski, was in the house when the raid happened. Cummins, the family attorney, says “she only heard loud banging immediately followed by the crash of the front door being forced open.”
Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, mentioned this at Thursday's press conference.
“I get fearful when I see this type of pre-dawn raid simply to execute a search warrant to a valued member of our community, not some former gangster with a rap sheet that needs to have a no knock warrant issued, perhaps,” he said.
Cummins told Little Rock Public Radio that it was too soon to say if Malinowski's family would bring litigation against the ATF. He believes agents “probably did not obey the law,” but said he would need to see the footage before making that decision.
