Both U.S. senators from Arkansas are pushing for answers from the Justice Department about a federal law enforcement search warrant execution last month that ended with an airport executive shot dead.
Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman are seeking answers in the death of Bryan Malinowski, the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock.
Malinowski was shot on March 19 when agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) attempted to serve a search warrant at his home. Malinowski, 53, was wounded during a gunfire exchange with agents and died days later, the ATF said.
1 DEAD, 9 INJURED IN ARKANSAS BLOCK PARTY SHOOTING
Bryan Malinowski, the former executive director at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, was shot and killed when federal agents were serving a search warrant at his Little Rock, Arkansas home. ( Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport)
“The Department of Justice confirmed to us last night that the ATF agents involved in the execution of a search warrant of the home of Bryan Malinowski weren’t wearing body cameras,” Cotton and Boozman said in a joint statement. “We will continue to press the Department to explain how this violation of its own policy could’ve happened and to disclose the full circumstances of this tragedy.”
“Mr. Malinowski’s family and the public have a right to a full accounting of the facts,” the Republican lawmakers added.
Bud Cummins, the attorney for the Malinowski family, noted that the ATF adopted a policy in 2022 that requires the use of body cameras during the execution of search warrants.
“This policy provides parameters for the use of BWCs [body-worn cameras] by TFOs [task force officers] to the extent that a state or local law enforcement agency requires their use by its officers during federal task force operations,” states a Department of Justice memo dated June 2, 2022.
Cummins said the policy was created in response to the shooting of Breonna Taylor, the Louisville, Kentucky EMT worker who was killed as officers attempted to execute a search warrant.
“It is astounding for ATF to now claim they simply ignored this clear policy. It obviously raises more questions than it answers,” Cummins told Fox News Digital.
Bill Walker, Chairman of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, Bryan Malinowski, Executive Director of the Clinton National Airport, Patrick Schueck, Vice Chairman of the Commission, and Comissioner Harold Betton, laugh during a Feb. 27 meeting. (Stephen Swofford/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP)
As agents were attempting to serve the warrant in the early morning hours, Malinowski allegedly opened fire. An agent was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Malinowski was shot in the head by returning gunfire and died two days later.
“As is standard practice, this matter is under review by state and local authorities in Arkansas,” Kristina Mastropasqua, an ATF spokesperson, told Fox News Digital. “The Department of Justice does not comment on pending matters.”
Malinowski was under investigation for allegedly selling firearms without a license, some of which were used in crimes, authorities said. Between May 2021 and Feb. 27, 2024, Malinowski allegedly purchased more than 150 guns, which he then allegedly resold.
Images taken by an undercover ATF agent of Bryan Malinowski selling firearms at a gun show in Arkansas (Justice Department)
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Malinowski purchased the firearms legally and allegedly checked a box on purchase forms that indicated the firearms were for him. However, he allegedly resold the weapons at gun shows where he acted as a vendor.
“At worst, Bryan Malinowski, a gun owner and gun enthusiast, stood accused of making private firearm sales to a person who may not have been legally entitled to purchase the guns,” Malinowski’s family said days after he died.
