Malinowski family’s lawyer reacts to congressional letter sent to ATF
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- The attorney for the family of Bryan Malinowski responded to the recent letter sent by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to the ATF requesting all documents and communications relating to the planning and execution of the search warrant and communications between departments involved in “no-knock” entries since 2021.
“Today, Chairman Jim Jordan mailed a letter to the ATF basically challenging them to provide a long list of information to produce surrounding the operation that resulted in the death of Brian Malinowski,” Attorney Bud Cummins said.
U.S. House Judiciary Committee asks ATF for details of March raid on Malinowski home in Little Rock
According to Cummins, the family is still grieving, but having the support of many elected officials always leads them to be hopeful.
“They don’t understand why, they want to know the same answers, so now it’s kind of a collective effort to try to pressure the government to explain this if they can,” Cummins said.
A spokesperson for the ATF released a statement Friday evening after comments by Senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton regarding the questions about the use of body cams.
“As is standard practice, this matter is under review by state and local authorities in Arkansas,” the statement read. “The Department of Justice does not comment on pending matters.”
Cummins said his information is still limited until the Arkansas State Police finish their investigations, and for evidence, that is also limited.
“This was technically a knock and announced warrant, but the evidence the limited evidence we have since they didn’t follow their own policies and wear body-worn cameras is that they knocked on the door at six in the morning while the Malinowskis were still asleep in their bed and within 30 seconds or less forced the door open and entered the house,” Cummins said.
He also said because of how fast ATF reacted, “it did not give the occupants time to realize it was law enforcement or to respond to the knock of the door and voluntarily admit them into the premises.”
Cummins said it’s not uncommon for people in Arkansas to have a firearm and that he thinks many would have acted as Malinowski did if they felt they were in danger.
“I’ve laid in bed for a solid month at six in the morning and thought about what would I do if I heard my front door crashing open, and I think what I would do would be to grab the pistol that I keep next to my bed and go down and try to protect my family,” Cummins said.
Cummins believes that there was a political component to the story of what happened on March 19th, resulting in Malinowski’s death.
“President Biden is trying to close it (gun show loopholes) through regulation that’s a legal legislative debate and a political debate,” Cummins said.
He said he thinks this wasn’t a coincidence, but he raised one question.
“If it’s okay for them to do what they did to Brian Malinowski, you can’t go to bed and sleep well at night worrying about what your government might do to you,” Cummins said. “The Fourth Amendment is vitally important, and we need to protect it.”
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