Brandon Herrera (born November 20, 1995), also known as The AK Guy, is an American YouTuber and firearm manufacturer whose videos primarily focus on firearms. Herrera was a candidate in the race to represent Texas's 23rd congressional district in 2024, but lost by approximately 1 percentage point to incumbent Tony Gonzales in the Republican primary runoff.[1]
Brandon Herrera was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to a family originating from Texas.[2] Both his parents are military veterans. Herrera attended Campbell University, where he studied pre-law, before dropping out to run his firearms manufacturing business.[3]
Career
YouTube
Started in 2014, Herrera's YouTube channel focuses on testing and reviewing firearms.[4] Subjects of his videos include tests of antique and military weapons, such as the AK-47 and RPG-7; discussions about gun laws and politics; and a series recreating the assassinations of public figures, including John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.[3] His videos often feature guests who have served in the military; Herrera himself is not a military veteran.[5]
On October 16, 2022, Herrera collaborated with Kyle Rittenhouse in Rittenhouse's first ever YouTube video after Rittenhouse launched his own channel dedicated to guns and Second Amendment rights.[6]
In 2024, Herrera released a rifle he and his team engineered called the AK-50, an AK-47 pattern rifle chambered in 50 BMG in order to blend the durability and power of the two separately.[7] The gun was later added to the video game Escape from Tarkov.[8]
In the aftermath of the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, an alleged manifesto by the perpetrator referenced Herrera, stating the two had met at SHOT Show.[9] Herrera harshly condemned the shooting and perpetrator, stating that he and his friends who attended SHOT show have "zero recollection of ever meeting this creep."[10][11] The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the organizers of SHOT show, released a statement in which they detailed there is no record or evidence the shooter ever attended any year of the event.[12]
In August 2023, Herrera, a Republican, announced he would run for the U.S. House to represent Texas's 23rd congressional district in 2024, citing a frustration in incumbent Tony Gonzales' votes and gun policy.[18] In the primary, Herrera received 25 percent of the vote, while Gonzales received 45 percent; as no candidate received more than 50 percent, a runoff was held between the two, where Herrera lost by 354 votes.[5][18][19] Herrera called for a recount, saying, "I don't expect the results to change, but I feel I owe it to my volunteers, voters, and supporters to leave no stone unturned."[20][21]
Several political action committees from outside of Texas donated million of dollars to Gonzales' campaign against Herrera. AIPAC accused Herrera of having "glorified Nazis and mocked the Holocaust" in his YouTube videos.[22][23] After the primary, U.S. Term Limits, a congressional term limits advocacy group, tapped Herrera to be their Texas chair.[24]
Electoral history
2024 United States House of Representatives election, District 23 (primary)
Herrera's content often contains self-described dark and politically incorrect humor.[3] He co-hosts a podcast described by the Houston Chronicle as displaying "offensive commentary or repeats racist stereotypes", such as an episode where he joked he was essentially a military veteran because he "often [thought] about putting a gun in [his] mouth".[16]Tony Gonzales criticized Herrera, saying that there was a "special place in hell for scum and villainy who mock veteran suicide".[4]
A handful of his YouTube videos have parodied Nazi imagery and included jokes about Nazis and the Holocaust.[25] He clarified in the video that he made “really fucked up jokes," saying he did so to encourage his audience to learn from and not repeat history. He adds that he is "not really a big fan of fascism".[25] In one 2022 video, he referred to the MP 40, a submachine gun developed by Nazi Germany, as the "original ghetto blaster". The video includes a montage of Herrera and an associate firing the weapon, goose stepping to "Erika",[25] Herrera suggests in the video that he is aware of the connotations of "Erika". Herrera says in the video: "If you’re one of the few people out there that realize, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the song we just used, and it’s just a bunch of soldiers singing about a pretty girl they miss at home."[25] Another video, covering historical weapons in the Rhodesian Bush War, featured the flag of Rhodesia, a symbol co-opted by white nationalists.[26] Herrera responded to criticism, saying, "This should be obvious, but I am not, nor have I ever been a neo-Nazi."[5]
Since at least 2013, Herrera has also been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a neo-Confederate organization that promotes the Lost Cause and has ties to white supremacist groups.[25][27][28] He appeared in welcome videos produced by the organization, where he referred to the American Civil War varyingly as the "War of Northern Aggression" and the "War for Southern Independence", and advertised the group's "annual Yankee shoot", where members used antique rifles to shoot at "posters of [their] favorite Yankees". Brandon's support for the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization was stated in the videos citing the need to preserve history, "because those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."[25][27]
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