Prosecutor declines to file charges in ATF shooting of Little Rock airport director

An Arkansas prosecutor said Friday that a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent was correct when he fatally shot the Little Rock airport director during a raid on his home in March.

Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones said in a letter to the ATF that no charges in the shooting would be filed after reviewing the Arkansas State Police investigation into the shooting of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski.

Malinowski, 53, died days after he was shot while ATF agents executed a warrant March 19 at his Little Rock home. Someone inside the home fired shots at the officers, who returned fire, hitting the shooter. The shooter was later identified as Malinowski.

An affidavit released after the shooting says Malinowski purchased more than 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and resold many of them without a dealer's license.

In his letter, Jones said the officers properly identified themselves by traffic lights and police sirens outside before entering and announcing their presence at the front door. He wrote that ATF agents had shields and wore shirts with ATF Police printed on the right side and bulletproof vests with ATF Police printed on the front. Jones wrote that during the raid, one of the officers saw another officer fall to the ground, heard a gunshot and saw Malinowski holding a gun.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, Officer 2 had a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to defend himself and Officer 1,” Jones wrote. “Therefore, Officer 2’s use of deadly force was consistent with Arkansas law and was justified.”

ATF spokeswoman Kristina Mastropasqua called the state's investigation into the shooting “prompt, professional and independent” and said it was now under internal review by the agency.

The Malinowski family called the ATF's tactics in the raid “completely unnecessary” and complained about the lack of details on the ATF's part. A lawyer for Malinowski's family said he was a gun collector and did not know he was under investigation for reselling firearms at gun shows. fire.

Bud Cummins, the family's attorney, said Friday that questions about the raid were “far from over” despite Jones' ruling. Cummins noted that, according to Jones' letter, ATF agents waited only 28 seconds after knocking on Malinowski's door before they began ramming it.

“How long is it reasonable to wait for someone to answer your front door at 6 a.m. in response to unexplained loud banging in a fully insulated 3,000 square foot home? Let's pray for the answer is not 28 seconds. The Fourth Amendment means more than that to each of us,” Cummins said in a statement.

His death drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas who asked the ATF for more information, and the chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in April asked the ATF to provide the panel with documents and information about the raid.