ATF agents lead search for explosives at Carnesville home

By Wayne Ford updated Wednesday, March 27, 2013 - 10:46pm

Nearly 40 law enforcement officers converged Tuesday on the property of a Franklin County man whose business partner was shot to death in January in a homicide that continues to trouble investigators.

U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents supervised the raid geared at finding explosives used by Kyle Myers, 26, because the ATF believes Myers may be violating a federal law regulating such explosives, according to ATF spokesman Richard Coes.

Federal agents, accompanied by Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents and deputies with the sheriff’s offices in Franklin and Hart counties, raided the Royston residence of Myers. Authorities also raided on Tuesday the 60-acre farm of Lamar Myers, Kyle’s father, in Lavonia.

No arrests were made, nor did Coes know if any explosives were seized.

“The idea at one of the locations was to take firearms, but they did not do that,” Coes said.

Coes said he could not comment on whether the raid stemmed from the investigation into the slaying of 32-year-old Keith Richard Ratliff, who was found dead in his business outside Carnesville on Jan. 3.

The investigation has widened into other states, according to the GBI.

Ratliff was co-owner with Myers of FPS Industries, which made guns. As productions of FPSRussia, the men posted videos on YouTube, which featured Myers using weapons the men acquired or made.

In the FPSRussia videos, Myers, who fakes a Russian accent during his demonstrations, is shown shooting guns and blowing up items.

Myers “was known to use explosives and I don’t know if it was done with malicious intent,” Coes said, adding that Myers was blowing up cars, refrigerators and other items for entertainment purposes.

A person is required to obtain a federal explosives manufacturing license if they intend to engage in the business of manufacturing explosives for sale, distribution or for their own business, Coes said.

The ATF believed that Myers was violating this law.

“The claim is that he was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube,” Coes said.

Information found during the search could be presented to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to Coes.

Myers’ YouTube videos has about 3.4 million subscribers, making it one the most viewed channels on YouTube, according to the website AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.

Myers, nor his father, could be reached for comment.

Ratliff, originally from Frankfort, Ky., had lived less than a year in Franklin County before he was fatally shot. Guns were found in the business near Ratliff’s body, but the murder weapon was not among them, authorities said. He died of a single shot to the head, the GBI said.

Ratliff lived in the building used for the business.

The GBI has declined to comment on a possible motive. Soon after the investigation began, the GBI asked for the assistance of the ATF and the FBI.

Ratliff was estranged from his wife, Amanda, who lived in Kentucky with their 2-year-old son, according to a January story in the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. She told the newspaper her husband “was a businessman from the time he got up until the time he went to bed.”

Friends of Ratliff found his body, but the GBI has not said how long they think the victim had been dead.

The GBI would not comment on possible suspects or persons of interest in the slaying of Ratliff.

• Follow Around Here editor/writer Wayne Ford on Facebook at wwww.facebook.com/WayneFordABH.

ATF Raids YouTube's Favorite 'Russian' Weapons And Explosives Expert

Paul Szoldra | Mar. 29, 2013, 8:45 AM

Kyle Myers, better known as the wildly popular "FPS Russia" on YouTube — with a penchant for shooting guns and blowing things up in videos — has caught the eye of federal authorities.

Nearly 40 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, raided his home and his father's farm on Tuesday to look for explosives, according to The Athens Banner-Herald.

He was apparently out of town when the raids took place.

Myers, who uses a fake Russian accent for filming on his YouTube channel, often finishes his videos off with an explosive finale. The substance he claims to use is called Tannerite, a legal explosive that blows up only when shot with a rifle.

Myers “was known to use explosives and I don’t know if it was done with malicious intent,” BATFE spokesman Richard Coes told the Banner-Herald. “The claim is that he was using explosives and getting paid for it via YouTube."

The BATFE website allows the use of such a substance as long as its for personal use, but since he makes money from his videos with advertising, that might push him into business territory, which requires a license.

The FPS Russia YouTube channel has nearly four million subscribers and is a source of income for Myers.

From ATF:

Individuals or companies must obtain a Federal explosives manufacturing license if they intend to engage in the business of manufacturing explosives for sale or distribution, or for their own business use.

No arrests were made, and the BATFE spokesman did not know if any explosives had been seized, according to the Banner-Herald.

Reality check, the BATFags like guns, knew that Myers had a bunch of cool toys, so they went with an excuse to go take his stuff.

Am I right in recalling that Agents also get to make a few bucks on the auctioning of the equipment after the case has been done?

More likely, greatly enhance their personal collections and augment their cache of "throwdown" guns and "plant" weapons and devices.

Fuck the ATF. If some ATF puke here don't like my attitude well F-you. Stick with the Obummer crowd and you can count on a piss poor retirement.

Both, the auctions are little known outside of government circles, so a lot of the government people enhance their personal holdings with the stuff and profits flipping items bought at the auctions.

So personal collections get enhanced, the agencies obtain the stuff, and the wheeler dealers among them bid on various items which they flip for additional profit.