The KGB-Style Murder by the ATF

Many of us are probably aware of the outrageous actions of our federal law enforcement agencies against our citizens. There was the raid on the home of Roger Stone in 2021 in the early hours of the morning—it’s worth noting that Stone was an associate of Donald Trump. No one could reasonably explain why the raid of 30 armed men needed to arrive so early. Then there’s the 6:30 am raid of the home of pro-life activist Mark Houck when he was swarmed and arrested by two dozen armed agents; he was accused of pushing a pro-abortion activist at an abortion clinic who was harassing his 12-year-old son. His attorney had suggested that he voluntarily surrender, but the FBI refused. Four months later he was found not guilty.

But it seems that the government is prepared to murder people when events don’t go their way:

In March of this year, Bryan Malinowski, the executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, was killed by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) during a pre-dawn raid of his home. It was an unwarranted and indefensible killing of a kind that should never, ever happen in a free country like the United States. Because we have a media that no longer serves in its traditional role as a government watchdog, this incident was not widely reported. Because too many members of Congress no longer take seriously their responsibility to protect the rights of those who elect them, the ATF has suffered no repercussions.

Malinowski was clearly employed full-time, and he sold firearms as a hobby. Federal law permits this activity:

Under federal law, it is perfectly legal to buy and sell firearms as a collector or hobbyist, even without a Federal Firearms License (FFL). An individual doesn’t need to obtain an FFL unless he is ‘engaged in the business’ of selling firearms. Congress has defined ‘engaged in the business’ to apply to those who deal in firearms ‘as a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit’ as opposed to those who make ‘occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby.’

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, the ATF decided he was selling guns as a business, observed him at a gun show, put a GPS tracker on his car, and obtained a search warrant for his home. They never contacted him regarding their perception that he needed to get a Federal Firearms License, when this tragedy could have been averted. Instead, they showed up at his home before dawn:

Dressed in SWAT gear, together with Little Rock police, they showed up in ten vehicles at Malinowski’s house before dawn on March 19. They cut the power to his house and put a piece of tape over the doorbell camera so that Malinowski couldn’t see who they were. Less than a minute later, after an exchange of gunfire, Malinowski was dead. And in violation of both ATF and Little Rock police policies requiring body cameras, not one of the law enforcement agents involved in this deadly raid was wearing an activated camera. After the killing, Malinowski’s wife was forcibly taken outside in her nightgown in 34-degree weather and was kept outside for over four hours despite multiple requests to see her husband and use the bathroom. In an audio recording from a police vehicle she can be heard sobbing, asking why they killed her husband, and insisting that the agents must have the wrong house because she and her husband are honest, law-abiding people.

An investigation followed:

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who shot Malinowski in a pre-dawn raid on his West Little Rock home 'had a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to defend himself' and another agent, Jones said. The ATF has said since March that Malinowski shot at agents first, and Jones’ brief letter confirms that narrative. But it also shows how quickly events moved that morning: About 46 seconds elapsed between the time officers first announced their presence and the moment an agent shot Malinowski in the head.

The government has tried to protect gun owners, but the law was unsatisfactory to the ATF:

The Gun Control Act of 1968 is the main body of law concerning this, and in 1986 this law was amended to allow the ATF to revoke an FFL only for a ‘willful’ violation of the law. The willfulness standard was added ‘to ensure that licenses are not revoked for inadvertent errors or technical mistakes.’ In recent years, however, the ATF has adopted what it calls a ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ that flies in the face of the willfulness standard—and therefore in the face of laws passed by Congress on behalf of the American people.

Please note that Roger Stone is a Republican political consultant, Mark Hauck was a pro-life activist, and Bryan Malinowski was a gun owner. I'd call these political hit jobs.

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The attack and murder of Bryan Malinowski is an outrage against not only Mr. Malinowski, but against the American people, and gun owners particularly. The ATF has acted with impunity, violating proper procedure and the law. They had opportunities to avoid the loss of life, but instead they violently threatened Mr. Malinowski in a way that terrified his family. And allowed only 28 seconds to pass after they first pounded on his door, and a total of 46 seconds to elapse before he was killed.

One of Mr. Malinowski’s attorneys ended his article in Imprimis this way:

So how do we regain control over the ATF and other federal law enforcement agencies? It is not going to happen through congressional hearings that provide a forum for political showboating and partisan posturing and that go nowhere. We the American people must demand that Congress, on our behalf, either reassert its authority over these agencies in a way to make it stick or else abolish the agencies and start anew. If we don’t, Bryan Malinowski will have died in vain and the rest of us, as if we are no longer Americans, will be looking over our shoulders.

Any one of us could be next.