“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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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.

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.

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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