While the first part of the story is old news we still don’t know the most important part. Was the “agent” a real agent-—yes/no? If he was a real agent then what the bleep was his authority to harass a private person, non-FFL, about a firearm he may or may not actually own? And what is the local sheriff going/doing about it.
If this was a real agent severe discipline is in order. If this was a fake agent then realer discipline is in order.
He was real and filed a lawsuit against the police for excessive force. Can anyone update on this?
If he was a real agent or a fake agent then the sheriff should prosecute him for the same harassment charges.
Yes, he was.
He also had a lawful weapons confiscation order, as the husband purchased a shotgun, and was subsequently denied during a late background check.
One of those nasty "gotcha's" where the Feds cannot complete a background check within 3 days and must allow the original sale of a firearm. They can still keep checking and if they find something later, they can go back to confiscate the purchased firearm. That was the setup.
All perfectly legal so far.
The housewife panicked and called the local police, saying that an unknown person claiming to be a federal officer was at her door demanding weapons and she was frightened.
Criminals have impersonated law enforcement staff before. It was not (IMO) an unreasonable fear by the housewife. Her husband was not home at the time.
ATF guy was armed and mouthed off to the local police officer who arrived on-scene. That was how things went sour in a hurry. Refusing to obey police instructions sealed the deal.
ATF guy should have known better. You always need to cooperate with local officers, or at least avoid antagonizing them. He could dish it out but could not take it. He is still with the ATF (of course). Not a good temper for a law enforcement officer. He should be in another line of work.
Along with almost everybody else in ATF. Once again, in my opinion. YMMV.