Family of Little Rock Airport Exec Bryan Malinowski Sues Feds Over Fatal 2024 Shooting

A file photo of Bryan Malinowski, former executive director of Clinton National Airport (Karen E. Segrave)

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Attorneys representing the estate of Bryan Malinowski, the former executive director of Bill & Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government and federal law enforcement agents over his fatal shooting in 2024.

The attorneys said federal agents “employed the most aggressive tactics available” to serve a search warrant at Malinowski’s home the morning of March 19, 2024. The complaint alleges that those tactics, which resulted in a deadly exchange of gunfire, were not justified by the circumstances and represent a violation of Malinowski’s and his widow Maria’s constitutional rights.

The 70-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, seeks both compensatory and punitive damages. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and 10 ATF agents and task force officers were named as defendants.

Authorities said they searched Malinowski’s home because he had been illegally selling firearms at gun shows and on the streets, with several of the guns later linked to crimes. As they attempted to serve the warrant, Malinowski, 53, opened fire on the agents, hitting one of them. Another agent returned fire, fatally hitting Malinowski.

Prosecutors ruled the use of deadly force was justified. But the ATF still faced scrutiny over the incident. A congressional hearing in May 2024 raised questions about the necessity of the raid, the agency’s tactics and a lack of body camera footage.

Bryan Malinowski wrongful death lawsuit by Arkansas Business on Scribd

The complaint says that Malinowski was not a threat to destroy evidence, that he was unaware of the three-month investigation of his gun sales and that he opened fire on agents because he believed they were intruders.

In addition to wrongful death, claims in the lawsuit include unlawful entry, negligence and false imprisonment of Maria Malinowski, whom authorities allegedly detained for several hours and refused to allow her to change clothes, check on her dogs or follow her husband to the hospital.

Bryan Malinowski joined the airport in 2008 as director of properties, planning and development. He was promoted to deputy director in 2009 and named executive director in 2019. He previously held leadership positions at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, El Paso International Airport and Lehigh Valley International Airport.

Malinowski’s estate is represented in the lawsuit by the Law Offices of Bud Cummins PLC of Little Rock; James & Carter PLC of Little Rock; Deb Riordan of the Riordan Law Firm of Little Rock; and Graves Garrett Greim LLC.

“There is simply no reasonable debate that the tactics and decision-making of the ATF needlessly resulted in the tragic death of Bryan Malinowski,” attorney Nathan Garrett said in a statement. “This was an extreme overreach for a case involving a hobbyist gun collector.”