Sufficient, and sustained, ATF incompetency is exceedingly hard to differentiate from malice. We're going on decades of ATF incompetency at this point, and the federal usage of expansive warrants served incompetently has created room for local PDs and SWAT departments to do the same (see Breonna Taylor or Jose Guerena) to the point I seriously begin to question whether we would not be better off barring them entirely.
There is a place for serving warrants on people at 6 AM in full tactical gear. That place is when the subject has a history of violence, resisting arrest, or is under suspicion/charge of violent crime. The sale of guns to people who may have used them violently is some six-degrees of Kevin Bacon bullshit and whatever incompetent/malicious individual at the ATF planned 6 AM raid should be not just fired but charged with criminal endagerment TOWARDS THEIR OWN ATF OFFICERS at very least. Because I can imagine no situation (barring new information about Malinowski's criminal history or acts) in which it is better for either Malinowski or law enforcement officers to do the early-morning raid song-and-dance when arrest at his place of employment, or while traveling alone in a vehicle (which they were tracking and tailing), were both open as options.
Like, worst-case, home is where ALL THE GUNS AND AMMO are, ATF dumbasses. Removing the individual from access to such for resisting lowers their threat-profile significantly and, in the much more likely best-case, they're COMPLETELY UNARMED at work or during travel.
But, as usual, nobody will be held accountable, no policies or procedures will change, and the agents who endangered others, killed Malinowski directly, and made all the conditions for him to be killed as part of their job will go unpunished.
Maybe someone will get a slap on the wrist like a paper 'bad boy' type thing.
And this is why the ATF (and the FBI...and many SWAT operations at local-level...and many other law enforcements agencies) must be destroyed. Or, at very least, have their active enforcement powers removed in favor of localized enforcement (which retains some problems, but at least those are much more easily held to account). Or we can once again slide up to addressing qualified immunity's shitty 'externalities' of cops killing people under questionable circumstances with no consequence.
*puts on hot-take hat*
The only real 'gun violence' problem in the United States comes from armed gangs and their warfare against each other spilling out or their victimization of others.
Unfortunately, a lot of actual law enforcement groups are included in that 'armed gangs' category.