ATF Killed a Man in Arkansas

[FatherMichael]

Illegitimate Joe signed a new "rule" recently, which bans the private sale of guns.

Bryan Malinowski sold guns as a vendor at gun shows.  He has no criminal record.

At least 10 ATF agents pursuant to a search warrant under said new "rule" burst into Malinowski's home before sunrise.  They did not wear body cams and taped the Ring doorbell before forcible entry.

The story is that he shot at them and he was shot in the head.

It sounds to me like he was murdered for exercising his constitutional rights.

He had been surveilled and, at a gun show, asked duplicitous questions by a plainclothes officer.

Malinowski was an executive at the Clinton airport at Little Rock.

Mr. Malinowski, did you know about the rule change?

What did you think was happening when someone broke into your house?

Dead men can't testify against the government.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arkansas-airport-executive-killed-shootout-was-investigation-weapons-s-rcna144572

[Michael Bush]

Luckily his wife wasn't holding a baby in her arms...

[FatherMichael]

Luckily his wife wasn't holding a baby in her arms...

Ayup.

[animal]

Luckily his wife wasn't holding a baby in her arms...

Great dark tag ! 

Actually, Biden didn't sign the rule since the way the utterly screwed up laws surrounding firearms allow the director of ATFE to write rules and regulations on how the law is to be enforced. The biggest problem here is that they have been exceeding their authority and redefining terms within the law to the point of changing the law itself.
The new definition of "engaged in the business" took effect on 4-10-24, after the Malinowski raid.
There has always been a "gray area" between a hobbyist and "engaged in the business" but the line of definition has always been considered to be whether firearms trading/selling was a principal source of income for the seller. That line is what has changed .. to an incredibly strict and nebulous definition.
Malinowski was accused of making straw purchases ... purchasing from a dealer with the intent of transferring to another person. This has been illegal since GCA '68, and what the warrant was based on.

The many and egregious problems with this raid are about how the warrant (and Malinowski) was executed. 

[FatherMichael]

Luckily his wife wasn't holding a baby in her arms...

Great dark tag ! 

Actually, Biden didn't sign the rule since the way the utterly screwed up laws surrounding firearms allow the director of ATFE to write rules and regulations on how the law is to be enforced. The biggest problem here is that they have been exceeding their authority and redefining terms within the law to the point of changing the law itself.
The new definition of "engaged in the business" took effect on 4-10-24, after the Malinowski raid.
There has always been a "gray area" between a hobbyist and "engaged in the business" but the line of definition has always been considered to be whether firearms trading/selling was a principal source of income for the seller. That line is what has changed .. to an incredibly strict and nebulous definition.
Malinowski was accused of making straw purchases ... purchasing from a dealer with the intent of transferring to another person. This has been illegal since GCA '68, and what the warrant was based on.

The many and egregious problems with this raid are about how the warrant (and Malinowski) was executed.

That's worse!

They made up a rule *after* they killed a man in order to cover their tracks.

Mr. Malinowski, did you know the people to whom you sold guns?

Dead men cannot give testimony.

The government is acting like the mob.

[animal]

not exactly
he wasn't actually accused of being a dealer operating without a license. he was accused of making straw purchases as an individual.

I agree that the situation is worse than you originally described, but for different reasons.

[Kathyp]

The biggest problem here is that they have been exceeding their authority and redefining terms within the law

All the alphabet agencies do this and I lay the blame primarily on Congress.  They allowed the agencies to exist, they fund them, and they do not rein them in even though they have oversight.

[FatherMichael]

not exactly
he wasn't actually accused of being a dealer operating without a license. he was accused of making straw purchases as an individual.

I agree that the situation is worse than you originally described, but for different reasons.

He wasn't actually accused of anything, no charges filed.  It was a search warrant.

And now we will never know

Because he's dead.

[animal]

ok bad choice of words on my part.
Also, I was wrong about the "dealing without a license" part

What leaked at first was the "straw man" purchase thing ... listed in the warrant as the offence of "unlawful acquisition of a firearm"
Since then, the search warrant has been released

https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/news/documents/2024/03/21/IN_THE_UNITED_STATES_DISTRICT_COURT.pdf

page 6 lists the above offence as well as "dealing in firearms without a license" also in the warrant is the "old" rule they obtained the warrant under for this offense.

We might find out more. It depends on Congress, the upcoming elections and the civil case(s) brought by his family.

Yeah, he's dead and arguably shouldn't be.
I see this case as only one in a long line of cases over many years. Each one of them should have caused reform in the governing agencies, in the legal process, and in the law itself. That didn't happen because of the Gordian knot created by politics and a system which has been corrupt since before I first took notice of it well over 40 years ago. To tell the truth, I haven't seen any great change in these agencies in my lifetime, just occasional flickerings of public awareness from time to time. This guy wasn't stupid. He was probably following the letter of the law as it was passed, and if so, his cause of death was naivety. Anyone with eyes can see that federal law enforcement has morphed into paramilitary forces and if you operate close to the edge of the law, you eventually get their attention. Each edgy transaction is a roll of the dice to see if they notice. On one of his rolls, snake eyes came up and he got bit. I find it hard to imagine he didn't recognize he was taking chances and if he didn't, it was foolish.
He may be dead, but that isn't the last of the story because the meaning of his death is still undefined. If it spurs reform, he'll be a hero. If it doesn't, he's just another guy that was killed because of what he enjoyed. He will become what the public makes of his death and it seems foolish to have any faith in the public.

and by reform, I mean beginning with disbanding ATF, repealing GCA or at least large sections of it ... pretty much zero chance, so the public will continue to get what it deserves.

[animal]

Anyway, here are a few fun facts ...

ATF agents actually bought 3 pistols from him and could have arrested him on the spot if any of those were recent purchases by him. They could have easily gotten the warrant while he was in custody and searched his house.

Alternately, they could have waited another hour and a half, arrested him as he went to work or pulled him over on the way  ... while executing the warrant.

The group assembled at a parking lot in preparation for the raid. They had assembled in the same parking lot earlier (days or weeks, not sure, would have to look it up) and they called off the first raid BECAUSE they realized he was not at home.

Prior to entry, they cut power to the lights so he was in darkness making it harder for him to identify them as police.

The time was chosen to maximize his disorientation. (being awakened a little earlier than normal is more disorienting than being awakened in the middle of the night, and it was still dark at the time)

They weren't wearing body cams and disabled the camera at the door. On 5-25-22 Biden had issued an executive order to require body cams when executing search warrants as well as a restriction on no-knock warrants. On 6-2-22 the use of body cams was mandated by ATF. ATF says they hadn't had time to implement their use at the time of the raid, so there is no footage. Why disable the doorbell camera when there's no tactical reason to do so once the raid is in progress? Had it not been disabled, it may have backed-up ATF's assertion that there is no BWC footage??? 

The warrant did not specify permission for a "no knock" entry as is usually the case for no knock entry....  case law requires law enforcement officers to give dwelling occupants a reasonable time to come to the door and let them in unless there is danger of losing evidence (like drugs down the toilet), propensity for violence or likely escape. It's pretty hard to flush a pistol. He had no prior record or history of violence. As a well known guy with a high profile job paying around a quarter mil a year, nice house, married 25 years, etc, I can't imagine him trying to run. Maybe they considered him a flight risk because he worked at an airport (just sarcasm here).

There's more, especially in his wife's account, but the above things are known for sure.