- Brandon Herrera recreates the assassinations of JFK, MLK and Abraham Lincoln online with fake blood as he rips apart fake brains with his hands
- Herrera cites sitting congressman’s gun control vote after Uvalde school massacre as reason he’s running
- Second election scheduled for May 28
A pro-gun YouTuber known for reproducing the assassinations of U.S. presidents online is a challenger for the Texas congressional district that includes Uvalde, the site of one of the nation’s worst-ever school shootings.
Representative Tony Gonzales, who currently holds the seat, failed to achieve victory in Tuesday’s primary.
Now he will face Brandon Herrera in the May primary.
Gonzales is a moderate Republican who voted for gun control after the horrific 2022 Uvalde school massacre.
But in a sign of the area’s staunch support for the Second Amendment, he is now being challenged by Herrera.
Texas Congressional candidate and Second Amendment fanatic Brandon Herrera has 3.2 million followers on YouTube, where he recreates the assassinations of President Abraham Lincoln, JFK and MLK
In the YouTube video of Lincoln’s assassination that he recreated, congressional candidate Brandon Herrera smashed open a fake skull meant to represent Lincoln’s head, pulled out the brain and squeezed out fake blood.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, center, speaks at a news conference on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. in July 2021
Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers – and injured 17 others – at the Texas city’s Robb Elementary School during the May 24 rampage
Texas’ 23rd Congressional District is home to Uvalde, a South Texas city where parents are still mourning the loss of 19 children and two teachers who were massacred by a gunman at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022.
The fourth-graders had their heads blown off their bodies after they were shot with an AR-15-style rifle that killer Salvador Ramos legally purchased a few days after his 18th birthday.
The parents of children who survived the horror by covering themselves in the blood of their dead classmate will be allowed to vote in these elections.
Although Uvalde and the surrounding towns are known as a hunter’s dream and are normally very gun-friendly, some locals have advocated for gun control in the wake of the tragedy.
Gonzales voted for a bipartisan 2022 bill that provides funding to states with “red flag” laws that allow judges to take away firearms from people who pose an immediate danger to themselves or others and improved background checks for gun sales.
Harrowing footage shows distraught Uvalde students with blood-soaked hair and clothes fleeing Robb Elementary on the school bus as a girl tearfully tells police how she tried not to cry while calling 911 to report mass shootings
Brandon Herrera, a gun fanatic with more than three million YouTube followers, bragged online about his testimony against the ATF, the federal agency charged with gun control
Congressional District 23 in Texas includes Uvalde and about 400 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico. Hotspots for migrant crossings, such as Eagle Pass and El Paso, are also part of the district
And the moderate Republican paid for it.
The Republican Party in Texas voted to censure Gonzales as a result — even though the congressman is an outspoken critic of the Biden administration and denounces the president’s border policies daily.
However, the massive congressional seat — which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso — is also home to many border communities, including hotspots for migrants crossing the border such as Eagle Pass, Del Rio and El Paso.
Voters there are traditionally Democratic, which could be an uphill battle for Herrera, who has low name recognition among locals despite his army of followers and online fame.
Herrera has also called for the termination of ATF’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The federal agency is charged with gun regulation.
That would be a hard sell to the many federal agents and military personnel who live in the district.
Neither the Herrera nor Gonzales campaigns responded to a request for comment.