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If you’re interested in videos involving guns and explosions, there’s a good chance you’ve come across FPSRussia’s YouTube videos. Do a little more digging and you’ll also see FPSRussia hasn’t updated his YouTube channel with new content in over six years.
What happened to FPSRussia and why did he stop creating new content? Because it’s hard to create content when you’re in prison.
Table of Contents
Here's What Happened to FPSRussia
FPSRussia is a firearms expert that produced YouTube videos about gun control and related topics. He shows off a variety of guns and compares the firearms used in video games and movies with real-life counterparts. He is a famous YouTuber and also a controversial one. New content from this firearms expert channel suddenly stopped after six years of producing videos about guns and explosives.
No official announcement regarding FPSRussia’s hiatus was released to the press, but the controversies gave people a lot of speculation.
History of the Channel
FPSRussia’s real name is Kyle Lamar Myers and his first YouTube video was posted on April 19, 2010. He played Dmitri Potaff, a Russian gun enthusiast who tells fun stories about different firearms and explosives and then shows himself shooting them in different scenarios. He frequently shot content on his family farm in Lavonia, Georgia. What made him stand out among millions of YouTubers is the Russian persona he characterized in his videos (complete with cheesy accent).
The channel reached its first million subscribers in June 2011, just over a year after it started. This popular channel covers firearms and explosives and remains popular even though the channel stopped uploading in April 2016.
Death of Keith Ratliff
FPSRussia’s downfall, unfortunately, began on the 13th of January, 2013. Keith Ratliff, a member of the FPS production and one of Kyle’s close friends, was murdered. He supplied the firearms and other equipment needed for the FPSRussia channel.
Ratliff was found dead by an FPS employee in his own gun store, according to reporting by NBC News journalist Juliet Muir [1]. No trace of forced entry was found at the crime scene, which fuels conspiracy theories that there had been foul play. As of April 2023, authorities have not charged anyone with Ratliff’s murder.
Keith Ratliff’s death became so controversial that it started a hiatus on the platform. Most viewers conceded that Myers’ new content on YouTube was never the same after Keith died.
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Kyle Myers' Home Raid & Arrest
Just over two months after Ratliff was found dead, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives raided Myer’s home and his family’s farm. The extensive use of Tannerite in his YouTube video called the attention of the law enforcers. He then became a suspect for manufacturing explosives without a federal license. A search warrant was issued, but no guns were seized and no arrests were made.
In 2016, the production team stopped creating content for FPSRussia, and people easily assumed that Myers was lying low, avoiding any legal trouble. Sad to say, during the second ATF raid, Myers was arrested in mid-2017.
Authorities found illegal drugs such as butane honey oil in his post office box. The Georgia Bureau also found illegal drugs and various paraphernalia in his home.
Following federal law, illegal drug users are not allowed to possess guns, so the channel has stopped uploading new content videos since then.
What Is FPSRussia's Kyle Myers Doing Now?
After he pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to 2 years probation and 2 months in prison, then released from custody shortly. Millions of subscribers of FPSRussia may wonder what Kyle Myers is up to now that he is no longer allowed to own firearms.
Luckily, he is now in the gaming podcast twitch stream, wherein he is known as Painkiller Already. He is not new to this since before he did content altogether with the FPSRussia’s production staff, he was a seasoned pro in game streaming way back in 2007.
You can find his play-style videos on iTunes, Podbean, and YouTube under WoodysGamertag.
What the Future Looks Like For FPSRussia?
After ATF raided Kyle’s home and his subsequent sentencing, he has been silent about whether there are plans to revive the YouTube channel. Although new content is no longer being created, the YouTube channel still manages to retain 6.93 million subscribers.
As of April 2023, the net worth of Myer’s channel is reportedly $217,000 as his content is still available on the platform. Somebody else could try to continue the legacy, but Myers as the star of the show can hardly be replaced.
References:
[1] Muir, Juliet (December 28, 2018) “No arrests six years after Keith Ratliff found shot to death in his Georgia home“. NBC News. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
The feds are a bunch constitutional infringing assholes that hate personal freedom and will screw over every citizen until we take our country back