Maria Malinowski’s ATF Wrongful Death Lawsuit: 2026 Ruling and Footage

Maria Malinowski’s ATF wrongful death lawsuit is a federal civil case filed in May 2025 against the United States, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and ten individual agents over the March 2024 pre-dawn raid that killed her husband, Little Rock airport director Bryan Malinowski. In June 2026, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas allowed eight of the suit’s nine Federal Tort Claims Act counts against the United States to proceed, dismissing only a false imprisonment claim tied to Maria Malinowski’s detention at the scene.¹

Who Bryan Malinowski Was and Why the ATF Was Investigating Him

Bryan Malinowski, 53, was executive director of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock and a longtime gun collector who bought, sold, and traded firearms at weekend gun shows.² The ATF was investigating him for allegedly selling firearms without a federal dealer’s license. A search warrant affidavit stated he had bought more than 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and resold many of them; six firearms traced back to him were later recovered in connection with crimes, and undercover agents bought three guns from him at shows.³ He had no criminal history, and the warrant at his home was a search warrant, not an arrest warrant.⁴

What Happened at the Raid

ATF agents arrived at the Malinowski home in the Chenal Valley neighborhood of west Little Rock on the morning of March 19, 2024. The warrant permitted a search between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., and agents began at 6 a.m. It was not a no-knock warrant.⁴

According to the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney’s report, a Little Rock patrol officer activated emergency lights and sirens in the cul-de-sac at 6:02:58 a.m. One second later, agents began knocking and announcing. Agent Matthew Sprinkles, leading the entry team, had placed tape over the family’s doorbell camera before knocking. At 6:03:27 a.m., agents used a battering ram to breach the front door. At 6:03:43, Malinowski fired four handgun rounds, striking Agent Tyler Cowart in the foot. A second later, an ATF agent returned fire with three rounds from an M4 rifle.⁵ Malinowski was severely wounded and died at a hospital two days later, on March 21, 2024.⁶

The full sequence from announcement to gunfire lasted about 28 seconds. Family attorney Bud Cummins later challenged that window: “How long is reasonable to wait for someone to answer their front door at 6:00 a.m. in response to unexplained loud pounding?” In June 2024, the county prosecutor found the agent’s use of deadly force justified, concluding the shooter had seen another agent fall and had observed Malinowski pointing a gun.⁵ That state-level review is separate from the civil suit.

What the Lawsuit Claims

Maria Malinowski filed suit on May 15, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, docketed as Malinowski v. USA, No. 4:25-cv-00486.⁷ The individual defendants include ATF agents Timothy Boles, Troy Dillard, Clayton Merrill, Tyler Cowart, Matthew Sprinkles, James Bass, Shannon Hicks, and Amy Ness, plus two task force officers from local law enforcement. She first submitted administrative tort claims to the federal government as required by law; those claims were denied on January 10, 2025, opening the six-month window to sue.⁸

The 70-page complaint brings 13 counts. Four are constitutional claims against the individual agents under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents: failure to knock and announce, unlawful entry, use of deadly force, and illegal detention of Maria Malinowski at the scene. The remaining nine are brought against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act and include wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, manslaughter, negligent homicide, aggravated assault, and criminal mischief under Arkansas law.⁹

The complaint’s core theory is that the ATF used its most aggressive tactics against a man with no criminal record who posed no known threat to agents and no risk of destroying evidence. It alleges agents taped over the doorbell camera, battered the door within seconds of first knocking, and gave Malinowski no realistic chance to understand who was outside, so that he believed he was defending his home against intruders.⁸ The suit does not challenge the validity of the search warrant itself.¹

Cummins, a former U.S. attorney, framed the case this way: “The facts speak for themselves: the plan was unnecessary, and the execution was illegal. If the government cannot be held accountable in this case, none of us can feel safe in our homes.”¹⁰

The June 2026 Ruling and Where the Case Stands

The federal government moved to dismiss all nine FTCA claims. On June 17, 2026, the court allowed eight to proceed and dismissed one: the false imprisonment claim tied to Maria Malinowski’s detention after the shooting. The judge found law enforcement had authority to secure the scene and detain individuals during the investigation.¹

The surviving counts include wrongful death, negligence, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and several Arkansas statutory claims. The court pointed to unresolved factual questions at the heart of the case: how clearly agents identified themselves, how much time passed between the announcement and the forced entry, and what Bryan Malinowski understood about the situation when he picked up his gun.¹

The ruling addressed only the FTCA claims against the United States. The four Bivens claims against the individual agents remain pending and will be resolved in a separate order.¹¹ With the eight FTCA counts cleared, the case has entered discovery, where both sides will exchange evidence and build their factual records for trial.¹²

The Missing Body Camera Footage

None of the agents on the raid wore or activated body cameras. The Department of Justice confirmed this to the family, and the House Judiciary Committee called the failure a violation of DOJ policy and Executive Order 14074, which required agents to wear active body cameras when executing search warrants.¹³ The only visual record came from the family’s doorbell camera, which agents had taped over before entry.¹⁴ That absence sits directly on top of the factual disputes the court flagged as reasons the case must go to discovery.

The Rule Change That Followed

The suit also draws attention to the legal standard under which the ATF investigated Malinowski. At the time of the raid, the definition of being “engaged in the business” of selling firearms was widely considered ambiguous, particularly for hobbyist collectors at gun shows. The complaint contends Malinowski believed his sales fell within a recognized “safe harbor” for collectors under existing ATF regulations.⁹

On April 11, 2024, less than a month after the raid, the ATF published a new rule expanding who qualifies as a firearms dealer. The updated regulation removed the word “livelihood” from the standard and specified that anyone selling guns with the “principal objective of profit” needed a federal license. The complaint highlights this timing, arguing the ATF raided Malinowski under an ambiguous framework the agency itself was working to clarify.⁸

1
KATV. Malinowski Lawsuit Over Fatal ATF Raid Moves Forward as Judge Lets Most Claims Proceed
2
New York Post. Wife of Clinton Airport Executive Bryan Malinowski Killed in Arkansas Raid Sues ATF Over Husband’s Death
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KARK. Released Search Warrant Affidavit Shows Details of ATF Case Against Little Rock Airport Executive Bryan Malinowski
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UALR Public Radio. Lawmakers Demand Release of Body Cam Footage in Malinowski Case
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Arkansas Advocate. Prosecuting Attorney Finds Little Rock Shooting Death Justified
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Fox San Antonio. Arkansas Airport Executive Dies After Shootout With Federal Agents
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CourtListener. Malinowski v. USA
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Arkansas Advocate. Malinowski v. ATF Complaint
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AR Money & Politics. Wife Bryan Malinowski Wrongful Death Suit ATF
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Arkansas Advocate. Little Rock Airport Director’s Widow Files Wrongful Death Suit
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WEHCO Media. Malinowski Order Re Motion to Dismiss
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NWA Online. Judge Rules Malinowski Wrongful Death Lawsuit Can Proceed
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House Committee on the Judiciary. Letter to ATF Re Malinowski Raid
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UALR Public Radio. Lawsuit Underway in ATF Killing of Airport Director