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\nNext Post Coming Soon…\u25b6\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
ATF agents cut off the electricity to Bryan Malinowski\u2019s Little Rock home before executing their search warrant March 19. None of the agents wore body cameras, and they covered Malinowski\u2019s doorbell camera with tape to hide their actions. Fifty-seven seconds after kicking down the front door, Malinowski was fatally shot in the head. His wife, Maer Malinowski, was pulled out of her home wearing only bedclothes and forced into the back of a squad car, where she was held against her will for four hours in 34-degree weather, despite her frequent pleas to check on her dying husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that isn\u2019t weaponization of government, I don\u2019t know what is,\u201d Congressman Jim Jordan, R-OH, said Thursday morning, during a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, which he chairs.<\/p>\n
The hearing, which was held in the Rayburn House Office Building and was called \u201cOversight of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives,\u201d lasted more than three hours. ATF Director Steven Dettelbach was the only witness.<\/p>\n
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee tried to force Dettelbach to answer questions about Malinowski\u2019s killing.\u00a0 However, as expected, he declined to answer and tap-danced around the members\u2019 questions, citing the ongoing criminal investigation by Arkansas officials as an excuse. Dettelbach was also questioned about ATF\u2019s zero-tolerance policy for gun dealers, which has led to a dramatic increase in revocations of Federal Firearm Licenses (FFL). Other lawmakers asked the ATF director about his agency\u2019s confusing new rule, which requires anyone who sells firearms \u201cpredominantly to earn a profit\u201d to obtain an FFL.<\/p>\n
Dettelbach appeared before the committee wearing a grey suit, white shirt, pale blue tie and an ATF lapel pin. He sat alone at the witness table, which was covered with several folders and piles of paper.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s questions about the Malinowski killing were on-point, accusatory and unrelenting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you make up the rules as you go, bad things happen. People might even get shot. That\u2019s what happened to Bryan Malinowski. What were you trying to hide, disabling the doorbell camera, cutting the electricity and not wearing body cameras? Jordan asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to hide things. After the incident, along with Little Rock Police, we called for an independent investigation, which is being done by Arkansas State Police,\u201d Dettelbach said. \u201cMr. Chairman, the reason we called for the investigation is we\u2019re not trying to hide anything, but I am not going to talk about the investigation out of fairness. I\u2019m not commenting on pending (legal) matters. It\u2019s not fair to people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his opening statement, Dettelbach claimed ATF goes after trigger-pullers, shooters and gun traffickers, which he called the \u201cthe worst of the worst.\u201d He never mentioned that Malinowski had never been arrested and had no criminal record.<\/p>\n
Dettelbach claimed \u201cgun violence\u201d was the leading cause of death for children, which Congressman Troy Nehls, R-TX, and several other Republican lawmakers completely debunked.<\/p>\n
Nehls, a former Sheriff who said he never allowed no-knock search warrants or \u201cSWAT teams coming to doors dressed like ninjas,\u201d asked Dettelbach what policies ATF has in place to mitigate risk to agents and the public during search warrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a thorough job of training, and we have operations planning,\u201d Dettelbach replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cExecuting search warrants at pre-dawn hours, how does that mitigate risk?\u201d Nehls asked.<\/p>\n
Dettelbach declined to answer, citing the ongoing criminal investigation, adding \u201cPolice are entitled to due process, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you kick down a door and you don\u2019t even announce who you are, what do you think is going to happen,\u201d Nehls asked. \u201cWere you aware he had no criminal history?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nehls cited a growing lack of trust between police and the communities they serve, which he said was exacerbated by ATFs lack of body cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stinks to high heaven,\u201d Nehls said. \u201cI highly recommend you cooperate with this committee. You\u2019ve got to get your priorities in order. It seems like there is a coverup here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two ATFs<\/h3>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve accused a dead man of a crime,\u201d said Congressman Darrell Issa, R-CA. \u201cDid you allege he had committed a felony?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe judge did find that,\u201d Dettelbach said, again citing the ongoing investigation by Little Rock officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they find that you blew it badly enough that criminal charges are filed,\u201d Issa said. \u201cThe Hunter Biden (investigation) is over. Why didn\u2019t you do a no-knock on him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Issa, a frequent ATF critic, said he knew what really transpired March 19.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re playing one of the games that the Chair and I didn\u2019t like during Fast & Furious,\u201d Issa said. \u201cIf some group of 10 carloads of people showed up and kicked in the door in the dark of night, we would be talking about a planned murder of somebody who had every right to have a weapon in their home, an expectation of a weapon in their home, and an expectation they may use it. Mr. Malinowski was killed doing what any normal citizen does when people enter their home during the dark of night, and they don\u2019t know who they are. I believe he had a very real belief he was defending his wife and family, and you killed him. Those are the facts. I have been investigating ATF for many years. I\u2019ve consistently seen two ATFs: One we need and deserve, and one that plays fast and loose. It would have been reasonable to arrest him at work. If you\u2019d done that, he\u2019d be alive today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Criminalizing FFLs<\/h3>\n
Congressman Matt Gaetz, R-FL, asked a simple question: \u201cHow many firearms does someone have to sell to be engaged in the business of firearms?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rule has 16 pages and there are 400 pages of explanation,\u201d Dettelbach said. \u201cThe factors are conduct-based, not numerical-based.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo number? For a regular person trying to figure out how many guns they have to sell before registering as a dealer \u2013 for a regular person, more information is less helpful,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n
Gaetz pointed out that at Texas court had enjoined ATF\u2019s new rule, finding that the agency had exceeded its authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems you\u2019re trying to criminalize an entire enterprise,\u201d Gaetz said.<\/p>\n
Congressman Tom McClintock, R-CA, asked Dettelbach if he had ever \u201cexpressed remorse to Mr. Malinowski\u2019s widow and family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will now and have before,\u201d Dettelbach said.<\/p>\n
McClintock asked if Dettelbach knew of the raid in advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI first heard after the fact,\u201d Dettelbach said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho have you disciplined? What have you done?\u201d McClintock asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went together with the Little Rock Police and requested an outside investigation. And we have fully cooperated,\u201d Dettelbach said.<\/p>\n
Congressman Jordan asked about the status of the investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Arkansas State Police turned over the investigation file to Pulaski County \u2013 state prosecutors,\u201d Dettelbach said. \u201cI believe this is all public. I believe they\u2019re reviewing it. That part we know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Congressman Tom Tiffany, R-WI, then said he has noted a \u201cdual standard of justice in America: Hunter Biden vs. Bryan Malinowski.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not one of the Democrats on the committee asked a probative question. The hearing concluded at 1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Story courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation\u2019s Investigative Journalism Project. Click <\/em>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nNext Post Coming Soon…\u25b6\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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