Erika Kirk Admits She 'Forgives' Charlie's Alleged Killer During Emotional Memorial Service Just Days After Horrifying Assassination — 'It's What My Husband Would Do'
Erika Kirk forgave her husband's alleged killer at his emotional memorial service.
Sept. 22 2025, Published 1:26 p.m. ET
Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika, moved the audience at his memorial service by forgiving his alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Speaking to a crowd of nearly 100,000 people inside Glendale, Arizona's State Farm Stadium, Erika, 36, described how her husband "wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life."
Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder and other counts related to Charlie's killing on the Utah State University campus on September 10.
'The Answer to Hate Is Not Hate'
Erika Kirk's devout Christian faith led her to forgive her husband's alleged killer.
"Our Savior said, 'Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.' That young man … I forgive him," devout Christian Erika told the audience through tears. "I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and it's what Charlie would do."
She continued, "The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us."
'I Felt Shock'
Erika Kirk is now the CEO if her late husband's youth political organization Turning Point USA.
Erika described seeing her husband's body following his assassination.
"I saw the wound that ended his life … I felt shock, I felt horror and a level of heartache that I didn't even know existed," she recalled. "But even in death, I could see the man that I loved. I saw the single gray hair on the side of his head, which I never told him about. I also saw in his lips the faintest smile. It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn't suffer."
"Even the doctor told me it was something so instant that even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room … nothing could have been done. There was no pain," Erika revealed.
Charlie was shot in the neck, allegedly by Robinson, while debating students on the UVU campus. Friends rushed him to a local hospital in Orem, Utah, where he was pronounced dead at the age of 31.
'Jesus Rescued Him'
President Donald Trump conformed Erida onstage at her late husband's memorial.
Ahead of the memorial service, Erika said that she didn't want to participate in Robinson's trial.
"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," she revealed in an interview.
"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.
She explained how, after arriving in Utah, doctors advised her that she may not want to view her late husband's body due to the extensive damage left by the high-caliber rifle's bullet.
"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 described about her husband's body.
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Death Penalty Case
Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder for allegedly killing Charlie Kirk.
Charlie was assassinated during the kickoff to his fall 2024 American Comeback tour of college campuses on September 10.
Robinson allegedly used a high-powered hunting rifle to shoot the conservative firebrand from the rooftop of a building nearly 150 yards away. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Authorities released alleged texts between Robinson and his transgender lover, Lance Twiggs, where he confessed to the killing and claimed, as a possible motive, "I had had enough of his hatred. Some hatred cannot be negotiated with."
