'Weaponization' of the ATF? Fatal Arkansas raid has lawmakers asking what went wrong?

In a Monday letter to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan requested all documents related to the planning and execution of a March search warrant raid that led to the death of Bryan Malinowski, the director of Little Rock’s airport.

Jordan criticized the bureau’s decision to serve a no-knock warrant, expressing concerns about the “weaponization” of the federal agency.

“The circumstances of Mr. Malinowski’s death raise questions about whether the ATF followed proper protocol,” said Jordan, R-Ohio.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, had announced on Friday that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wore no body cameras during the raid, in an apparent violation of department policies.

The Arkansas Republican attributed this information to the U.S. Department of Justice in a post on X, formerly Twitter, in which he wrote that the DOJ had also informed U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas.

Cotton’s announcement came just a day after Arkansas state lawmakers gathered in the Capitol rotunda on Thursday to call on ATF to release body camera footage of the early morning raid at Malinowski’s house on March 19.

More: No-knock warrants: A growing legacy of controversy, revised laws, tragic deaths

Malinowski was suspected by ATF of illegally dealing guns, some of which were later linked to crimes.

Standing in front of more than a dozen other lawmakers, state Rep. Matt Duffield, R-Russellville, and state Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock, demanded transparency and accountability from the bureau, saying that many questions needed to be answered about the incident.

“Did they knock? If they didn’t, why?” Duffield asked. “Did they clearly state who they were before they crashed through his door that morning? If not, why? Were they wearing the required body cameras? If not, why not, and where the hell is the footage?”

The ATF was “running roughshod over the civil rights of Arkansas citizens and, some now contend, [getting] away with cold-blooded murder,” Duffield said.

Duffield called the revelation that agents weren’t wearing body cameras “disheartening” in a text message on Monday and said that ATF “need[s] to be held accountable and the truth needs to see light in this situation.”

An ATF spokesperson said the case is under review.

“As is standard practice, this matter is under review by state authorities in Arkansas,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of Justice does not comment on pending matters.”

The March raid

The raid, which ended in the fatal shooting of Malinowski, 53, was intended to seize some of the more than 150 guns that Malinowski had purchased since 2021 as well as evidence related to what ATF alleged in its warrant was the illegal manner in which he bought and sold some of them.

After ATF agents arrived at Malinowski’s house to serve the warrant early in the morning on March 19, Malinowski exchanged fire with them before being shot in the head, the Associated Press reported. An ATF agent was also injured. Malinowski died the next day of his injuries.

Malinowski, ATF alleges, bought guns to resell them without a dealer’s license and sold them to people, including undercover federal agents, without checking their identification.

Several guns sold by Malinowski were found to have later been related to crimes across the U.S. and Canada, including by known gang members, according to an affidavit related to the search warrant.

“Brian did what I would have done,” said Duffield on Thursday of Malinowski’s reaction during the raid. “He did what most Arkansans would have done, and he paid for it with his life. And for all we know, it was the price he paid for simply being a gun collector.”

Johnson stressed that Malinowski was not someone he thought “needs to have a no-knock warrant, but instead a member of our community, the head of a very important agency, overall very well respected.”

While criticizing the law enforcement officers in question for giving Malinowski “no due process” and “no warning,” Johnson also said that policy requiring body cameras “protects our law enforcement” from “nefarious claims against what they’re doing when they’re trying to protect us.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Fatal ATF raid in Arkansas leaves lawmakers angry. What went wrong?