By Lee Williams
SAF Investigative Journalism Project
ATF Director Robert “Rob” Cekada has been busy making the rounds.
He’s a real gun owner who’s appearing on pro-gun YouTube shows practically every day. He knows guns, often better than the hosts.
He attended SHOT Show, NRA’s Annual Meetings and he will be speaking at the Second Amendment Foundation’s Gun Rights Policy Conference Sept. 25–27, in Dallas, Texas.
Cekada introduced a package of proposed ATF/DOJ rules while surrounded by a roomful of pro-gun leaders, which rolled back regulations that had a negative impact on the Second Amendment.
He is focused on making life easier for both the gun industry and gun owners, while closely watching over the ATF Special Agents who, ultimately, all report to him.
He has shifted the agents’ focus in a good way. Gone are the days of targeting FFLs for no reason other than the fact they sell guns. Under Cekada, ATF agents are finally targeting bad guys with guns.
This is why the ATF was created—to hunt criminals—not to harass legitimate gun dealers and gun owners.
The difference between Cekada and Joe Biden’s second choice for ATF director, Steve Dettelbach, is massive.
Cekada first put an ATF badge in his billfold in 2005 and rose through the ranks. Dettelbach took over the agency after working on a private law firm’s white collar defense team. He has since returned to his old job.
The problem Cekada faces is simple. It was created and then handed over to him by Dettelbach’s out-of-control ATF, which perused the internet for gun dealers whom they targeted only because they sold guns or gun parts.
When he raised his right hand and recited the oath, Cekada became responsible for the innocent people Dettelbach’s goons imprisoned and/or killed, and for the civil rights they violated.
Two names certainly come to mind: Bryan Malinowski and Patrick “Tate” Adamiak.
Bryan Malinowski
At 6 a.m. on March 19, 2024, ATF agents knocked on the front door of Bryan Malinkowski’s West Little Rock home. They waited only 28 seconds before forcing their way in.
Malinowski—who served as Little Rock Airport’s executive director and earned an annual salary of more than $240,000—was sleeping with his wife when he heard the commotion. He thought burglars had entered his home, so he armed himself with a handgun, bravely entered the hallway outside his bedroom and fired to scare away the “burglars.”
An ATF agent armed with an AR-15 shot Malinowski in the head.
He died two days later.
Just two months after the killing, Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones said the shooting was justified.
One year later, Malinowski’s widow Maria “Maer” Malinowski filed a lawsuit against the ATF agents and local police officers who were involved in the killing.
Late last month, the federal judge in charge of the civil case said it would go forward.
Malinowski was only 53 years old when he was killed.
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak
Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, a former active-duty Navy E-6, was arrested more than four years ago even though he never committed any crime. More than 40 law enforcement officers led by ATF agents kicked down his doors and ripped his home apart.
They found nothing illegal—not a thing—yet he’s serving a 20-year federal prison sentence.
If Joe Biden’s ATF had left him alone, Adamiak would likely be leading a SEAL platoon. He’d already been accepted to BUD/S.
Cekada himself said Adamiak was massively over-sentenced.
“On the facts of this case, the sentence Mr. Adamiak received is excessive. Mr. Adamiak had no prior criminal history. He dealt with these weapons as curios. We have no evidence that he intended to use the weapons unlawfully or that he was part of a criminal organization. The extremely high sentencing guidelines likely reflect the paradigmatic cases of individuals possessing destructive devices, such as grenade launchers, and normally involve terrorism or organized criminal activity. No such conduct was present here. For me, unlawful possession of National Firearms Act items sentences approximately in the three-to-five-year range are common,” he said.
Every single week, the ATF’s own press releases show how massively Adamiak was over-charged and over-sentenced. Real criminals committing real crimes receive much less time behind bars than the 20 years Adamiak is currently serving.
Last week was no exception.
Takeaways
Cekada needs to realize that the ATF did not start on April 30, 2026, when he was sworn in as director.
When he raised his right hand and took the oath, he became responsible for every action his agents have made, good and bad, past and future.
Malinowski’s widow is seeking relief for her husband’s killing, and Adamiak is rotting in federal prison, and neither should ever have happened.
Let’s hope Director Cekada will do what is needed for each family. He needs to take swift action. It’s not up to anyone else. If the U.S. Attorney won’t help, he needs to go up the chain of command. The responsibility belongs to him, not anyone else.
During a recent interview, Cekada said he is open to feedback, and that he wants to hear it.
“I look for people who have legit gripes,” he said. “Legit gripes I can fix. I will do the best I can.”
While what happened to the Malinowski and Adamiak families is far more than a “legit gripe,” but let’s hope Director Cekada will be true to his word and fix each of them.
“Justice delayed is justice denied.” British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone said that in the 1800s.
It’s especially true today.
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