Minneapolis gunman appears to promote “Brandon Herrera for president” in video posted before shooting

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WASHINGTON — A person who appears to be the shooter who killed two and injured 17 at a Minneapolis church Wednesday praised Texas congressional candidate and gun activist Brandon Herrera in a video posted before the shooting.

The shooter, identified by law enforcement as Robin Westman, 23, opened fire during a children’s Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. In a since-deleted video posted to YouTube, a person believed to be Westman films their arsenal of weapons and ammunition, along with a written manifesto, and says the message is “sponsored” by “Brandon Herrera for president,” before saying they met Herrera at SHOT Show last year.

SHOT Show is an annual gun trade show in Las Vegas. Herrera, who at the time was running in a Republican primary in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District against Rep. Tony Gonzales, hosted a campaign event there in 2024 and discussed his visit on his YouTube page. After losing to Gonzales in a runoff by fewer than 400 votes last year, Herrera is challenging the San Antonio congressman again this cycle.

“He and I had a conversation, a brief conversation,” the user believed to be Westman says in the video, which was posted by PatriotTakes, a left-wing research account. “We agreed on a lot of things. So, y’all should vote for Brandon Herrera for president.”

In an X post, Herrera said he does not remember meeting Westman at SHOT Show but said he would be happy to answer questions from law enforcement. He added that he is coordinating with friends in law enforcement to help victims’ families.

“I'm still physically sickened and angry about this clearly hate motivated attack on innocent children, and disgusted that my name came out of this demon's mouth,” Herrera wrote.

In a six-minute YouTube video Herrera posted Thursday, he reiterated that he did not recall ever meeting the shooter and said he does not believe a meeting between the two happened and that he certainly does not believe that the two would agreed on much.

"When I first found out about this, I did not want to believe that it was real," Herrera said. "And then I listened to the video, and when I heard it with my own two ears, I got fucking sick to my stomach."

Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which operates SHOT Show, said the shooter's name was not among the registered attendees at the 2024 event or for prior years.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that the shooter had timed the release of a manifesto on YouTube, but Minnesota law enforcement have not yet verified that the specific YouTube video mentioning Herrera was posted by the shooter.

The poster goes on to apologize to their family and ends by saying, “F–k those kids.” The person in the video also wrote racist slurs, tributes to domestic terrorists and threats against President Donald Trump on his ammunition magazines and gear.

In a post on X, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the shooter had written ‘Kill Donald Trump’ and other disturbing messages on a rifle magazine, referencing details shown in the same video that included the shooter’s comments about Herrera.

A popular gun rights YouTuber with over 4 million subscribers known as “the AK guy,” Herrera criticized Gonzales, one of Congress’ more moderate Republicans, for supporting a gun safety bill that expanded background checks in the wake of the 2023 Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, which is in the district.

In his YouTube video, Herrera said the shooter's mention of him was "the first thing in my entire career that, speaking candidly, has kind of fucked me up."

Herrera also said there are online theories that the shooter was a left-winger who brought up his name "attempting to slander me, intentionally damage my reputation." But he added that there is no way to tell if that is true.

Gonzales, who co-chairs the Bipartisan School Safety and Security Caucus, has made school safety one of his signature issues in Congress. Through a spokesperson, he declined to comment on the alleged shooter’s support for Herrera.

In a social media post, Gonzales called the shooting “tragic and infuriating.”

“School security needs to be a top priority for lawmakers across the nation,” he wrote. “Too many lives have been lost. No more excuses.”

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