Charlie Kirk’s grieving widow has revealed exactly how she feels about her husband’s alleged killer facing the death penalty.
Erika Kirk, the wife and mother of the late conservative’s two children, opened up about the details surrounding the assassination that claimed his life on September 10 in Orem, Utah.
The former Miss Arizona, who was appointed the new CEO of Turning Point USA on Thursday, said she wants the government to decide what happens to Tyler Robinson, the suspect accused of fatally shooting Kirk, 31.
‘I’ve had people ask, “Do you feel anger toward this man? Like, do you want to seek the death penalty?” I’ll be honest. I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this,’ Erika, 36, told The New York Times.
She went on to say she does not want anything to do with the decision because it could create unwanted guilt, especially when it comes to her Christian faith.
‘I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger. Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: “Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?” And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?,’ Erika continued.
Speaking for the first time since her emotional speech just two days after her partner died, Erika revealed the exact moment she heard he’d been shot.
She had planned on traveling with him from Arizona to Utah that day, but she had to be with her mother who was undergoing medical treatment, Erika said.
Erika Kirk said she wants to the government to decide if her husband’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, should get the death penalty
Robinson, 22, was nabbed two days after he allegedly opened fire during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University
Around 11.23am local time, she got a frantic call from Michael McCoy, her husband’s assistant, stating ‘He’s been shot!’
Erika hopped in one of Kirk’s chartered planes but it was too late as he was pronounced dead while she was in the air.
‘I’m looking at the clouds and the mountains. It was such a gorgeous day, and I was thinking: This is exactly what he last saw,’ she recalled.
Once she arrived at the hospital, Erika met with a sheriff who gave her the option to see Charlie’s body – something he advised against her doing because of the severe damage the bullet did to his neck.
Nonetheless, she insisted she see her husband one last time.
She recalled telling the sheriff, ‘With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband.’
Once his deceased body was in front of her, Erika said she knew ‘he’d died happy’.
‘His eyes were semi-open. And he had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile. Like he’d died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven,’ she said, adding that she kissed him – something that she didn’t do before he left the house that morning.
Erika was not with her husband when he was shot as she had to be with her mother who was undergoing medical treatment. The pair share two children together (pictured)
Erika also recalled her husband being so excited to kick off the start of his ‘American Comeback Tour’ that he barely slept the night before.
‘His adrenal glands were just going off,’ she explained. ‘He got up and I could hear him eating something in the kitchen. He’d been waiting all summer to begin touring.’
She recalled her late husband treating each visit to a college campus like it was an ‘Olympic event’.
‘He trained for them. He had whiteboard sessions for hours. Mock debates. He was just so excited,’ Erika stated.
On Thursday afternoon, Turning Point USA, which was founded by Kirk, said they have ‘unanimously selected Erik as the new CEO and Chair of the Board’.
‘In prior discussions, Charlie expressed to multiple executives that this is what he wanted in the event of his death,’ the group added in an X post.
‘Charlie prepared us all for a moment like this one. He worked tirelessly to ensure Turning Point USA was built to survive even the greatest tests.
‘As Charlie always said, “We have a country to save”. We will not surrender or kneel before evil. We will carry on. The attempt to destroy Charlie’s work will become our chance to make it more powerful and enduring than ever before.’
She previously took to social media in a heartbreaking video two days after Kirk’s death.
Kirk is pictured right before he was fatally shot on September 10 at Utah Valley University
Erika is seen alongside her late husband’s casket following his death
Erika stood next to the empty chair once used by her late husband in the studio while she addressed an online audience.
During the emotional speech in which she had to pause several times to catch her breath and wipe away tears, she called on Kirk’s followers to become members of a church before making a vow to her late husband.
‘Charlie, I promise I will never let your legacy die, baby,’ she said. ‘I promise I’ll make Turning Point USA the biggest thing that this nation has ever seen.’
Erika thanked President Donald Trump and his family for their support following the shooting during her roughly 16-minute remarks.
‘Mr President, my husband loved you. And he knew that you loved him too. He did. Your friendship was amazing. You supported him so well, as did he for you,’ she said.
She also thanked Vice-President JD Vance and his wife Usha for ‘bringing him home.’.
The Vice President and Second Lady were seen comforting Erika as his casket made its way back to their home state of Arizona following the shooting.
Kirk’s memorial service is set for today at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
