While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion.

Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his… pic.twitter.com/i1SyJtC5Gc

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 11, 2025

“On that day, this evangelist for American liberty became immortal,” Trump said Sunday before tens of thousands of mourners inside the State Farm stadium in Glendale, Arizona. “He’s a martyr now for American freedom.”

Trump described how Kirk would ask him to fly across the country to appear at his events with little notice.

“You never wanted to let Charlie down,” Trump said. “He worked so hard you just didn’t want to let him down.”

But Trump also angrily attacked liberals and pledged to continue investigations of groups he accused of fostering violence.

“He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them,” he said. “That’s where I disagree with Charlie. I hate my opponent. And I don’t want the best for them.”  

Trump also invoked one of his final exchanges with Kirk to support his long-threatened plan send in federal forces to crack down on crime in Chicago. “We’re going to have Charlie very much in mind when we go to Chicago,” he said.

“The depraved assassin” has been charged with Kirk’s killing, Trump said. “God willing he will receive the ultimate punishment.”

Moments earlier, Erika Kirk, vowed to continue her husband’s legacy, enrolling more campuses and students in the conservative movement he founded.

Kirk eulogized her husband in a tearful speech near the end of an hours-long memorial service for the conservative activist who was killed on Sept. 10. The service was heavily focused on Kirk’s Christian faith.

One of the most powerful moments came in Erika Kirk’s remarks, when she offered not a political message, but one of faith and forgiveness. 

“I forgive him,” she said of the man who killed her husband. “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and it’s what Charlie would do.” 

Throughout the service, Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet members, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, focused on Christianity and how their faith aligned with Kirk’s, a notable blending of government and religion. 

Kirk, newly named the chief executive officer of Charlie Kirk-founded Turning Point USA, said she was committed to the same campus events and debate he used to galvanize young conservatives and challenge liberal orthodoxy.

“Everything that Turning Point USA built through Charlie’s vision and hard work, we will make ten times greater through the power of his memory,” she said.

Kirk, 31, was killed on Sept. 10 during a debate at a Utah university, leaving behind Erika, and two young children, as well as the Turning Point USA organization he founded. On Sunday, he was lionized as a Christian martyr and patriot committed to free expression and challenging liberal orthodoxy. 

Supporters vowed Kirk’s legacy would continue — growing bolder in the wake of his death. Turning Point has reported thousands of inquiries from people interested in starting high school and college chapters. 

Kirk rose from a teenage political activist to a conservative influencer and standard bearer for MAGA youth, his surge in popularity intertwined with Trump’s political fortunes. He founded Turning Point with the goal of fighting liberal ideology on college campuses and propelling conservatism, and it’s now one of the most powerful conservative lobbying networks in the country. Turning Point USA grossed nearly $85 million in revenue last year and had chapters on over 3,300 college and high school campuses, according to its 2024 tax filing.

Kirk was also a relentless champion of Trump — even through his 2020 election defeat, as he helped chart the president’s return to power and gave guidance on policies and appointees. 

Kirk’s get-out-the-vote efforts last year helped Trump’s improved showing among young voters and helping him flip Arizona back to Republicans in 2024.

In the days since Kirk’s killing, Trump and top Republicans have criticized left-wing rhetoric for helping foment violence, and pressured the Walt Disney Co., the parent of ABC, to sideline comedian Jimmy Kimmel for making critical comments about Kirk.The administration has moved to target left-leaning groups with racketeering probes and the potential loss of their tax-exempt status. 

Erika Kirk heralded the First Amendment as “the most human amendment. We are naturally talking beings. Naturally believing beings. And the First Amendment protects our right to do both.”

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During the Sunday, September 21, public memorial service for the late Charlie Kirk, his wife, Erika Kirk (née Frantzve) publicly forgave the man allegedly responsible for her husband’s death.

“I forgive him because it is what Christ did,” Erika, 36, said during her husband’s service, held at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. “The answer to hate is not hate.”

During her remarks, Erika also urged those in attendance to follow her husband’s example as a wife and a husband.

“Please be a leader worth following,” she told the thousands of attendees. “Your wife is not your servant. Your wife is not your employee. Your wife is not your slave. She is your helper. You are not rivals. You are one flesh, working together for the glory of God.”

Charlie, a conservative activist and the founder of right-wing organization Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was 31.

“Charlie loved life. He loved his life, he loved America, he loved nature which always helped him closer to God,” Erika said during an X livestream two days later, breaking her silence on her husband’s passing. “He loved the Chicago Cubs and my goodness did he love the Oregon Ducks.”

In addition to Erika, Charlie is survived by the couple’s two kids.

“Most of all Charlie loved his children and he loved me with all of his heart and I knew that everyday. He made sure I knew that everyday,” Erika added in her September 12 statement. “Everyday he would ask me, ‘How can I serve you better? How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better father?’ … He was a such a good man. He still is such a good man. He was the perfect father. He was the perfect husband.”

Erika also revealed how her children had been coping with the news.

“When I got home last night,our daughter just ran into my arms and I talked to her and she said, ‘Mommy, I miss you,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘I miss you too, baby,’ and she goes, ‘Where’s Daddy?’ How do you tell a 3-year-old? And I said, ‘Daddy loves you so much, baby, he’s on a work trip with Jesus so he can afford your blueberry budget.’”

Erika, who has been named the new CEO of Turning Point, has since been candid about the final moments she shared with Charlie.

“His eyes were semi-open,” Erika recalled of seeing Charlie’s body in a The New York Times interview published earlier on Sunday. “He had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile, like, he died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven.”

Erika had told the outlet that she was supposed to accompany Charlie to Utah for the speaking engagement, in which Charlie was scheduled to debate kids on campus — the first planned stop on a nationwide tour. Instead, Erika stayed in her native Arizona to support her mother amid a hospital stay.

After getting a call from Charlie’s assistant, sharing the news, Erika quickly got on a plane to Utah.

“I’m looking at the clouds and the mountains,” she said to The Times, recalling the moment she learned mid-flight that her husband was declared dead. “It was such a gorgeous day, and I was thinking: This is exactly what he last saw.”

Why So Many People Are Searching To Understand ‘Free Speech’ Right Now

Randy Holmes via Getty Images

Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, delivered an emotional address Thursday night, just days after his sudden death. Speaking during an online livestream event organized by Turning Point USA, the group Kirk founded, she reflected on her husband’s life, faith and political mission and promised to keep it alive.

“Two days ago, my husband Charlie went to see the face of his savior and his God,” she said, her voice breaking. “My husband laid down his life for me, for our nation, for our children.”

Kirk framed her husband’s death as both a personal tragedy and a call to action, telling supporters that the movement he built would not end with him. “Our campus tour this fall will continue. America Fest this December will go on. It will be greater than ever,” she said, urging viewers to join or start local chapters of TPUSA.

Throughout the speech, Kirk leaned on her Christian faith, calling the moment a “spiritual battle” and describing her husband as a “martyr.” She also shared intimate moments, recounting conversations with their three-year-old daughter and thanking supporters for prayers and condolences.

While Charlie Kirk was often a polarizing figure in U.S. politics, his widow’s remarks struck a tone of resilience and mourning rather than partisan attack. For many on the right, the speech is likely to serve as a rallying point; for others, it was a glimpse into the private grief of a family that has long been in the public eye.

Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk welcomed two children with former Miss Arizona USA winner Erika Kirk (née Frantzve) before his death in September 2025.

Charlie and Erika tied the knot in 2021 after two years of dating. They expanded their family with a daughter in August 2022 and a son in May 2024.

In September 2025, the Turning Point USA cofounder was shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment where he later died, according to multiple media outlets at the time.

President Donald Trump was among those to release statements calling for prayers on behalf of Charlie’s family in the wake of the shooting death.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we, the Turning Point USA leadership team, write to notify you that early this afternoon, Charlie went to his eternal reward with Jesus Christ in Heaven,” a a Turning Point USA statement read.

Days later, Erika broke her silence on Charlie’s tragic death and vowed to keep his legacy alive.

“Charlie baby, Charlie I promise I will never let your legacy die baby I won’t. I promise I’ll make [your non-profit] Turning Point USA the biggest thing this nation has ever seen,” she said via a September 2025 live stream. “Oh, Charlie I love you. I love you baby. Rest in the arms of our lord as he blankets you with the words I know your heart always strives to hear. Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Keep scrolling for more details on Charlie and his family:

Erika Frantzve

The couple started dating in 2019, with Charlie announcing on his podcast in December 2020 that they were engaged. Charlie and Erika — a businesswoman and former beauty pageant contestant — eventually tied the knot in Scottsdale, Arizona, in May 2021.

Erika, who, like her late husband, is an evangelical Christian, spoke in an August 2021 interview about the “blessings” the newlyweds had received since getting married while also reflecting on how her life had changed since meeting Charlie.

“I knew that, with the way we were living our life and how obedient we were [to God] in certain aspects and how intentional we were, we would have [God’s] favor,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I didn’t know it would be this unbelievable amount of blessings in front of us, and on us, and favor on us.”

Reflecting on her life before meeting Charlie, she recalled: “The things that you thought were painful [in the past] and the things you thought were amazing at the time, they hold no comparison [to life now]. I think sometimes people hold onto things and seasons in our life that we’re not supposed to.”

In May 2025, Charlie reflected on his Frantzve’s relationship via Instagram in honor of their fourth wedding anniversary.

“Today marks 4 years of being married to @mrserikakirk. Second to accepting Jesus, it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. She is bold, smart, loyal, and beautiful,” he wrote. “Happy anniversary Erika, I love you.”

First Child’s Birth

Charlie paid tribute to his wife’s strength during labor when he announced that they’d welcomed their first child, a daughter, in August 2022. They had previously chosen not to publicly reveal Erika’s pregnancy.

“Welcome to the world baby girl. We love you so much,” he wrote via Instagram. “Erika did so so well, praise God!”

When Charlie returned to his radio show the following Monday, he described the prior seven days as “a week that changed my life.”

“We welcomed our beautiful daughter into the world,” he told listeners.

Touching on his and Erika’s decision to keep quiet about her pregnancy, Charlie explained: “We did that for a variety of reasons, some being security, and also just being that it’s not about social media. In a world where everything is put on social media, where everything is constantly being posted and being talked about, we made a decision, my wife and I, to keep one thing rather private. And I’ll tell you, it was not easy.”

Second Child’s Birth

Charlie and Frantzve’s son was born in May 2024, with the political commentator once again announcing the news via Instagram.

“Glory be to God for the birth of our Son! Erika did so amazing, I am so proud of her,” he assured his followers.

Charlie shared a photo of both children in May 2025 — with their faces turned away from the camera — in honor of his son’s first birthday.

“Yesterday we celebrated our son’s 1st birthday! He has brought an infinite amount of joy and laughter into our lives,” he wrote via Instagram. “Being a parent is an incredible gift, made far better because I get to do it alongside @mrserikakirk.”

Charlie Kirk’s Parents

Charlie was raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, by his mother, a mental health counselor, and his father, an architect.

Authorities have recovered what they believe is the rifle used to kill conservative activist Charlie Kirk, along with ammunition engraved with phrases referencing so-called “transgender and antifascist ideology,” according to a report from The Wall Street Journal that was later called into question by a senior law enforcement source.

The recovered weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, was found in a wooded area near Utah Valley University, where Kirk was shot Wednesday while addressing hundreds of students.

“There were also three unspent rounds in the magazine, all with wording on them,” according to the Journal’s report. “Justice Department officials cautioned that the investigation was still in its preliminary stages, and that investigators were still examining the ammunition.”

According to The New York Times, however, a senior law-enforcement official cautioned that the WSJ report had not been verified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”

Meanwhile, the Times and other outlets reported that the recovered rifle was a Mauser .30-06, a military-turned-hunting rifle used by Nazi Germany during World War II, which was imported to the U.S. after the war.

Law enforcement sources said the shooter is believed to be male and “appears to be of college age” and that he “blended” in with the college population. The FBI released a photo of a “person of interest” on social media, asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the individual. Authorities arrested and later released two subjects on Wednesday.

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Officials said Thursday that the rifle and other forensic evidence are being analyzed at the bureau’s lab.

“We are exhausting every lead, we have every officer invested in this, every investigator, every local agency,” Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said. “The outpouring of support for the law enforcement community has been astounding. We are investing everything we have into this and we will catch this individual.”

Kirk, 31, was struck in the neck, apparently by a single bullet fired from a rooftop roughly 200 yards from the stage. The gunman allegedly escaped on foot through nearby woods, leaving behind the rifle.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that Kirk, a close ally of the president’s, would be posthumously awarded with a Medal of Freedom.

“You could be next,” influencer and unofficial Trump adviser Laura Loomer posted on X. “The Left are terrorists.”

Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who popularized the demonization of critical race theory, suggested in a post on X that the “radical left” was responsible for the shooting, and urged the US government “to infiltrate, disrupt, arrest, and incarcerate all of those who are responsible for this chaos.”

Republican representative Derrick Van Orden from Wisconsin also blamed the shooting on “leftwing political violence” and warned on X that “Whoever does not condemn this is part of the problem. The gloves are off.”

On the floor of the House, after Democrats and Republicans observed a “moment of prayer,” led by House speaker Mike Johnson, for Charlie Kirk and his family, representative Lauren Boebert called for a spoken prayer. Some Democrats said no, and referenced the school shooting in Colorado that also occurred Wednesday. Shouting broke out, and Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna yelled across the aisle, “Y’all caused this.” One Democrat, according to The New York Times, responded, “Pass some gun laws!”

On X, Luna continued to blame the left: “EVERY DAMN ONE OF YOU WHO CALLED US FASCISTS DID THIS. You were too busy doping up kids, cutting off their genitals, inciting racial violence by supporting orgs that exploit minorities, protecting criminals, and stirring hate. YOU ARE THE HATE you claim to fight. Your words caused this. Your hate caused this.” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also posted about Kirk’s death, calling on people to “rise up and end this.”

Blake Masters, a twice-failed US congressional candidate once backed by Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel and endorsed by Trump, called for RICO investigations into non-governmental organizations as a result of the shooting.

“Left-wing violence is out of control, and it’s not random,” Masters posted on X. “Either we destroy the NGO/donor patronage network that enables and foments it, or it will destroy us.”

Masters was quoting a post from right-wing podcaster and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich, who blamed the shooting on the left. “Congressional hearings now,” Cernovich posted on X. “Every billionaire funding far left wing extremism. Soros, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman. Massive RICO investigations now.”

Chaya Raichik, who operates the anti-LGBTQ account Libs of TikTok, simply wrote: “THIS IS WAR.”

On fringe platforms like Trump’s own Truth Social and The Donald, the rabidly pro-Trump message board that was responsible for some of the planning of the Jan 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, numerous users echoed Jones’ comments about war.

“War is coming,” one user of The Donald wrote on a thread dedicated to Kirk’s shooting. “War is here,” another responded.

Another user of The Donald wrote in the same thread: “Civil War is coming … this will give the left the blowback they’ve been begging white people for so they can play the victim and justify white genocide.”

The co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, the 31-year-old Kirk is the latest victim in a spasm of political violence across the United States.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.

“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.

A person who was taken into custody at Utah Valley University was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. It was not clear if authorities were still searching the campus for a suspect.

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience members asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a single shot rang out.

The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

Officials react

Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.

“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.

Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.

“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.

He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.

“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”

Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.

But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.

Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.

Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.

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Richer and Sherman reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Michael Biesecker and Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed to this report.

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