Widow of Arkansas airport executive files wrongful death claim against ATF for ‘reckless’ shooting of husband in Biden-era raid

The widow of an airport executive has filed a wrongful death suit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

The claim comes after agents shot Maria “Maer” Malinowski’s husband in the head while executing a routine search warrant on March 19, 2024, using a controversial practice called “dynamic entry.”

After being shot and struggling to breathe, Bryan Malinowski was denied lifesaving treatment, according to the suit. He died two days later.

Malinowski, who was 53 at the time of his death, was the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The incident prompted U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to write a letter dated April 22, 2024, to then-ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, stating “the ATF raises serious questions about the weaponization of the agency against Americans” after the “pre-dawn, no-knock raid.”

The federal lawsuit filed on May 15 details a series of critical errors by 10 ATF agents, resulting “in an entirely predictable, needless and tragic outcome,” said the 72-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The suit, backed by attorneys with extensive federal law enforcement and prosecutorial experience, paints a damning picture of preventable missteps.

The ATF’s investigation targeted Malinowski for allegedly selling firearms at gun shows without a $200 federal firearms license – a license which was not clearly required at the time of the sale, according to the suit.

“The law at the time was vague, exempting people who occasionally sold guns as a hobby but not spelling out how many sales was too many,” reported the New York Times.  

As the head of the airport, Malinowski made an annual salary of more than $260,000, said the lawsuit, which would have made any gun sales a hobby relative to income. 

Despite Malinowski’s lack of a criminal record and no evidence suggesting he posed a threat, agents opted for a high-risk, dynamic entry into his Little Rock home. 

“There is simply no reasonable debate that the tactics and decision-making of the ATF needlessly resulted in the tragic death of Bryan Malinowski,” said Attorney Nathan Garrett, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor, representing Mrs. Malinowski for Graves Garrett Greim LLC. 

In a statement to The Lion, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, called what happened “an absolutely grave injustice committed by an agency that should be immediately abolished.

“My heart goes out to the Malinowski family, who should have never had to endure a tragedy which stemmed from out-of-control government agents who took unnecessary and unconstitutional actions that morning. We should keep the Malinowskis in mind as they go through this heart-wrenching process and remember that it should be a top priority of Congress to protect gun owners by abolishing the ATF.”

The complaint outlined several key errors ATF agents made. 

First, agents failed to adequately knock and announce their presence, violating Fourth Amendment protections.  

At 6:02:42 a.m., seven agents stacked onto the Malinowski’s porch, covered their video doorbell with tape, and began knocking on the outer glass storm doors.  

Within 28 seconds, the team leader ordered the storm doors pried open with a tool and the main, wooden doors breached with a battering ram.  

“At 6:03:43 a.m., just 48 seconds after agents first approached his door to cover his doorbell, Bryan Malinowski lay bleeding on the floor of his hallway, shot in the head,” said the suit, according to audio evidence provided by the Little Rock Police Department (LRPD).  

This hasty entry, and the use of excessive force, the lawsuit argued, deprived Malinowski of the chance to recognize law enforcement, leading him to the reasonable belief intruders were invading his home. 

The suit cited Griffin v. United States, which found that for people aroused from sleep “an immediate and appropriate response may not be feasible” and they may “likely to be too bewildered to react.” 

One of Malinowski’s other attorneys, a former federal prosecutor, concurred.   

“The plan was unnecessary, and the execution was illegal,” said former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins, who is also listed as a lawyer for the plaintiff. “If the government cannot be held accountable in this case, none of us can feel safe in our homes.” 

The suit also says the ATF’s choice of a pre-dawn dynamic entry was unjustified.  

The operations plan, approved by the special agent in charge, acknowledged Malinowski’s non-threatening profile: he had no criminal history, lived with his wife and two small dogs, and was expected to cooperate. 

One participating agent later called Malinowski “the last person I would have imagined that we would have been in an armed confrontation with.” 

Another special agent, who anticipated an “easy search warrant,” admitted Malinowski posed no danger when executing a standard search warrant. 

Other options to serve the search warrant should have included serving the warrant at his business (a no-gun zone) or calling him on his cell to open the door, or serving him at his car as he drove to work, said the suit. 

Yet, the ATF approached in tactical gear, armed with military-style rifles, and planned a stealthy breach under cover of darkness, tactics typically reserved for the arrest of violent criminals. 

“Importantly, it was not an arrest warrant,” noted the complaint. “Nor did it set forth any facts that would lead any person to believe Mr. Malinowski would evade law enforcement, fail to cooperate, be dangerous, or pose a threat or risk of destroying evidence.” 

Procedural lapses by the bureau also compounded the errors, the suit alleges. 

The ATF ignored its own policies by not conducting a required briefing the day before the raid, instead holding an impromptu briefing at a Walmart parking lot moments prior to the execution of the breach.  

This led to disorganized role assignments, with one agent, tasked with knocking and announcing, entering first instead of the agent who was tasked with entering using a ballistic shield marked “POLICE” in large lettering. 

This agent unaccountably abandoned his ballistic shield, which was later found lying outside the entrance to the house.   

The agents used vests which covered their identification as federal law enforcement. There is no audio evidence they identified themselves as police to Malinowski before shots were fired, said the suit. 

The absence of body cameras, despite a 2021 Department of Justice mandate for the use of the recording devices, has further obscured the events, leaving only an LRPD officer’s automatically activated audio as evidence. 

Finally, the suit alleges the illegal detention of Maer Malinowski after the shooting of her husband added to the ATF’s failures. 

Held in a patrol car for over three hours without probable cause, she was denied requests to change clothes, check on her dogs, or follow her husband to the hospital, suffering significant emotional distress for which she is still receiving counseling. 

The lawsuit, seeking compensatory and punitive damages, charged the ATF and the agents with wrongful death, assault, battery, negligence, alongside constitutional violations. 

“There were countless safe and effective ways of approaching what should have been a routine search warrant that would never have brought about this result,” Garrett emphasized. 

Photo: U.S. Department of State