Bryan Malinowski, executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, was fatally wounded in a shootout as ATF agents tried to serve a search warrant at his home.

An executive for the Little Rock, Arkansas, airport who was killed in a shootout with federal agents this week had been under investigation over gun sales, search warrant records unsealed Thursday show.

Bryan Malinowski, 53, who was executive director of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, was shot after he opened fire at federal agents who arrived to serve a warrant Tuesday morning, officials said.

Malinowski died Thursday, his family said. His brother has said he was shot in the head.

  • Zaktor
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    8 months ago

    But they also questioned why the ATF conducted what they characterized as a dawn raid on a private home that led to the gunfire.

    “Even if the allegations in the affidavit are true, they don’t begin to justify what happened,” the family said in the statement, released by an attorney acting as their spokesperson.

    Yuuup. Shitty gun nut giving guns to people without any sort of checks, but showing up at dawn doesn’t do anyone any good. There were so many other ways to handle this that didn’t invite chaos.

    • GooseFinger@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I wouldn’t trust what the ATF has said yet. They fabricated evidence that people at Waco were selling machine guns and explosives to justify their standoff and raid there, turns out all of that was a lie.

      They have all the incentive to take control of this story now so public opinion takes their side. Not unsurprisingly, they did the same thing after Waco and Ruby Ridge.

      Even if everything the ATF said here is proven completely true, I agree - fuck the ATF, there was no reason to surround this person’s house and start shooting. We should all expect much more out of our government than this. Disband these thugs.

      • Zaktor
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        7 months ago

        Never trust any cop’s version of a shooting. They lie, all the time, and then when they’re caught lying they “initiate an investigation” and then just wait for people to forget about it.

    • hypnotoad@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      Wait, serving a warrant needs to be done during business hours now? Do you all hear yourselves? When cops knock on your door, pulling a gun on them will always result in you getting shot at, be it at dawn, afternoon, or evening.

      Maybe just don’t pull a gun on the cops at your door and this doesn’t happen. Just a thought.

      • Zaktor
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        7 months ago

        What benefit does a dawn raid provide over just showing up when he’s expected to be out of the house? It’s worse at protecting evidence, a harder tactical situation for the cops (entering a building where the target can ambush, easily access weaponry, and shoot from cover), and worse for the target making rational decisions (like not shooting at cops). Ignore the target, because you presumably think he got what he deserved. One of the agents got shot and they didn’t have to.

        This wasn’t an imminent danger situation where if they didn’t get him at 6 am he was going to set off a dirty bomb at 7 and disappear into the wind. He was going to go to work and then come home later to do the same slow and steady crime he’d been doing for months.

          • Zaktor
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            7 months ago

            We don’t really know how aware he was that they were cops. Breonna Taylor died because her boyfriend didn’t know they were cops.

            Sure, this could just be a survivalist whacko taking his last stand once the gubmint finally came for him, but it also could be triggering someone’s fight or flight when they’ve surrounded themselves with tools for fighting and a fearful mindset. And again, a cop got shot. They should do stuff to avoid that.

            • hypnotoad@lemmy.ml
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              7 months ago

              This was a guy performing career criminal moves. Totally different than Breonna Taylor (which is totally fucked for its own reasons, to be clear). But these are not the same. This guy knew exactly who was at his door, and what he was doing.

              • 5too@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                None of which answers the question - why did this need to be a dawn raid, instead of going in while he was out at work?

              • Zaktor
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                7 months ago

                People doing “career criminal moves” (fucking copaganda bullshit framing making an unusual appearance against a white suspect for once) don’t have some magic cop-sense and often are worried about being the subject of violent crime. Doubly so if this was some rich white dude mainlining Fox News 24/7.

                You don’t know anything about what he knew or why he shot at them, but fuck it, go to the mat for the boys in blue like a good bootlicker.

      • cybervseas@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        When folks in black armor show up with guns at the crack of dawn (or the middle of the night, see Breonna Taylor), either pounding on the door or knocking it down, I think I’d be in a very weird headspace. Scared, angry, confused, maybe violent too idk. Whether they say they’re police, whether they actually are, and whether I’d be able to understand them screaming at me is all questionable.

        • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          He was a college educated executive at an airport, which means he was interacting with the TSA and other law agencies on a daily basis. He knew that he was in violation of the law. He should have acted like a professional crook and had his lawyer’s number ready.

          If you read ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ his advice to crooks was to cooperate with the police when they come for you. He knew what he was talking about, because he was a thief and drug dealer before finding religion in prison.

          • hypnotoad@lemmy.ml
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            7 months ago

            I love the defense of shooting at cops serving a legitimate warrant here, it’s absolutely wild

            • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              MAGoo logic at it’s finest. Back the Blue, until they come for you!

              I just had an exchange with a fellow who claimed that Trump didn’t commit fraud because none of the banks complained.