Brandon Joseph 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.[4] On August 9, 2025, Herrera announced his decision to again run for the seat in an election that will be held in 2026.[5]
Brandon Joseph Herrera[6][bettersourceneeded] was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to a family originating from Texas.[7] Both his parents are military veterans. Herrera attended Campbell University, where he studied pre-law, before dropping out to run his firearms manufacturing business.[8] He moved to San Antonio in early 2021.[3]
Career
YouTube
Started in 2014, Herrera's YouTube channel focuses on testing and reviewing firearms.[9] 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.[8] His videos often feature guests who have served in the military; Herrera himself is not a military veteran.[10]
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.[11] The gun was later added to the video game Escape from Tarkov.[12]
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.[13] 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."[14][15][16] 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.[17]
Unsubscribe Podcast
On November 17, 2023, Herrera officially joined the Unsubscribe Podcast as a co-host.[18] The podcast features himself alongside fellow YouTubers Donut Operator, Eli Doubletap, and the Fat Electrician.[19] The podcast has raised thousands for different charities focusing on autism and veteran mental health.[20][21] They also donated $10,000 to the Family Justice Center after an episode guest, Buffalo Police Department detective Richard Hy, accused Buffalo Public Schools of covering up abuse.[22][23]
A recurring joke among Herrera's fanbase portrays him as a highly decorated war hero, despite Herrera never serving in the military. This satirical narrative is prominently featured in the Unsubscribe podcast's Veterans Day episode, where his veteran co-hosts and guests humorously exaggerate his fictitious combat accolades.[27] The joke is further perpetuated through references to the parody website ForcedValor.com where his fictitious adventures are catalogued.[28]
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.[38] 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.[10][38][39] 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."[40][41]
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.[42][43] After the primary, U.S. Term Limits, a congressional term limits advocacy group, tapped Herrera to be their Texas chair.[44]
Herrera's content often contains self-described dark and politically incorrect humor.[8] 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".[35]Tony Gonzales criticized Herrera, saying that there was a "special place in hell for scum and villainy who mock veteran suicide".[9] Herrera responded to the attacks, explaining both in the episode including the joke and later that he brought the joke up when describing how he didn't say it while speaking at a veteran suicide awareness panel.[45]
A handful of his YouTube videos have parodied Nazi imagery and included jokes about Nazis and the Holocaust.[46] 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".[46] In one 2022 video, he sarcastically referred to the MP 40, a submachine gun developed by Nazi Germany, as the "original ghetto blaster". The video, which takes a sarcastic tone, includes a montage of Herrera and an associate firing the weapon, goose stepping to "Erika",[46] 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."[46] Another video, covering historical weapons in the Rhodesian Bush War, featured the flag of Rhodesia, a symbol co-opted by white nationalists.[47] Herrera responded to criticism, saying, "This should be obvious, but I am not, nor have I ever been a neo-Nazi."[10]
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.[46][48][49] 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."[46][48]
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