Both senators from Arkansas are demanding answers from the Justice Department over federal law enforcement’s execution of a search warrant that ended in the shooting death of an airport executive last month.
Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman want answers in the death of Brian Malinowski, executive director of Little Rock’s Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport.
Mr. Malinowski was shot and killed on March 19 when agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) tried to serve a search warrant at his home. Malinowski, 53, was wounded in a shootout with agents and died several days later, ATF said.
1 dead, 9 injured in Arkansas block party shooting
Brian Malinowski, former executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, was shot and killed while federal agents were executing a search warrant at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport)
“Last night, the Department of Justice confirmed that the ATF officers involved in executing the search warrant on Brian Malinowski’s home were not wearing body cameras,” Cotton and Boozman said in a joint statement. Ta. “We continue to call on the department to explain how this violation of its own policies occurred and to clarify the full circumstances of this tragedy.”
“Mr. Malinowski’s family and the public deserve a full explanation of the facts,” the Republican lawmakers added.
Bud Cummins, an attorney for the Malinowski family, noted that the ATF adopted a policy in 2022 requiring the use of body cameras when executing search warrants.
“This policy provides parameters for the use of BWC [body-worn cameras] by TFO [task force officers] “To the extent that state or local law enforcement agencies require their personnel to use it during federal task force operations,” the June 2, 2022 Department of Justice memo states.
Cummins said the policy was created in response to the shooting of Breonna Taylor, a paramedic in Louisville, Kentucky, who died while police officers tried to execute a search warrant.
“For the ATF to now claim they simply ignored this clear policy is astonishing. It clearly raises more questions than answers,” Cummins told Fox News Digital. Ta.
Little Rock Airport Commission Chairman Bill Walker, Clinton National Airport Executive Director Brian Malinowski, commission Vice Chairman Patrick Schueck, and Chairman Harold Beton laugh during a Feb. 27 meeting. There is. (Stephen Swofford/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, via AP)
Malinowski allegedly opened fire as investigators were attempting to execute a warrant in the early morning hours. An agent was shot and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Malinowski was shot in the head in return fire and died two days later.
Authorities said he was being investigated on suspicion of selling unlicensed firearms, some of which were used in crimes. Malinowski allegedly purchased more than 150 guns between May 2021 and February 27, 2024, and then resold them.
Images taken by undercover ATF agent Brian Malinowski selling firearms at an Arkansas gun show. (Ministry of Justice)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
malinowski purchased a firearm He allegedly checked a box on the purchase form indicating the firearm was legally his. However, he allegedly resold weapons at gun shows as a vendor.
“At its worst, Brian Malinowski, a gun owner and gun enthusiast, was accused of privately selling a firearm to a person who did not have the legal right to purchase it,” Malinowski said. A few days after his death, his family made this statement.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the ATF and the Department of Justice.
