San Antonio gun influencer ‘AK Guy’ denies culpability after Minneapolis shooter drops his name in manifesto

San Antonio-area Republican congressional candidate Brandon Herrera is on the defensive after being named in the online manifesto left behind by the woman who this week shot up a Minneapolis church, killing two children and injuring 17 others.

Mass shooter Robin Weston, 23, mentioned Herrera — an online gun influencer who posts videos under the handle the “AK Guy” — three times in an 11-minute video posted prior to the mass shooting. In the disturbing clip, Weston also showed off a cache of weapons, gulped down a beer and sporadically broke into laughter.

Weston, who took her own life following the shooting, said she met Herrera last year at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, or SHOT, in Las Vegas, adding that the pair engaged in a short conversation.

“We agreed on a lot of things, so y’all should vote for Brandon Herrera for president,” said Weston in the video, which also included footage of her showing off firearms magazines painted with slogans such as “Where’s your God” and “For the Children” along with racial epithets. 

Herrera runs a 4 million-subscriber YouTube channel where he reviews anything from modern assault rifles to vintage military weapons. Capitalizing on that following, he last year ran against U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales in the Republican primary for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, which includes San Antonio’s West Side.

Herrera came within 400 votes of unseating the incumbent.

After the election, Herrera announced his availability to become President Trump’s new director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. While those plans didn’t play out, the YouTuber earlier this month announced plans to run again against Gonzales in the 2026 primary.

In tweet Wednesday, Herrera was quick to distance himself from Weston, describing the shooter as a “gutless coward.” He also wrote in a separate tweet that he was “physically sickened and angry” about the shooting.

“I meet thousands of people every year at SHOT Show in Las Vegas in meet-and-greets and such, but I don’t remember this individual at all, nor does anyone I was there with,” Herrera wrote. “That being said, I’m happy to answer any questions from Law Enforcement if it would be helpful.”

Even so, some commenters on Herrera’s tweets weren’t ready to clear him of accountability.

“You’re an accomplice to murder,” X user @thatPOSERguy fired back.

Meanwhile, @billifer1973 brought up Herrera’s public advocacy for the abolition of most gun regulations.

“From your timelines, it looks like you advocate for ZERO gun laws,” she wrote. “Is that correct?”

It’s not the first time Herrera’s YouTube content has put him at the center of controversy.

During his 2024 congressional run, critics unearthed footage of Herrera making jokes about the Holocaust, poking fun at PTSD-induced veteran suicides and mocking President Trump’s son Barron.

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This article appears in Aug 21 – Sep 2, 2025.