Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, said she wants the government to decide her husband’s killer’s fate.
She revealed her feelings about the death penalty ahead of Sunday’s memorial service in Arizona in NYT interview.
Leaving the Decision to Government
Erika said people have asked if she wants Tyler Robinson sentenced to death.
She told her lawyer she does not want that responsibility.
“I want the government to decide this,” she said.
Erika Kirk
She explained she doesn’t want her Christian faith compromised by guilt.
“I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger,” she added.
She said she fears being judged by God for vengeance.
For her, leaving the decision to officials preserves her peace.
The Day of the Shooting
Erika recalled the moment she heard her husband had been shot.
Around 11:23 a.m., she received a call from Kirk’s assistant.
“Michael McCoy called frantic, saying, ‘He’s been shot!’” she said.
She boarded one of Charlie’s charter planes to Utah.
But while in the air, doctors pronounced him dead.
She said she looked at the clouds and imagined his final moments.
“It was such a gorgeous day — what he last saw,” she said.
At the Hospital
Upon arrival, a sheriff offered to shield her from seeing his body.
He warned of severe damage to his neck from the bullet.
Erika insisted on seeing her husband one final time.
“With all due respect, I want to see what they did,” she replied.
She said his face showed a “Mona Lisa-like half-smile.”
“He’d died happy. Like Jesus rescued him,” she said.
She kissed him goodbye, something she hadn’t done that morning.
His Excitement for the Tour
Erika described how eager Charlie was to launch his campus tour.
He barely slept the night before the first event.
“His adrenal glands were just going off,” she recalled.
She heard him eating in the kitchen early that morning.
He treated each debate like it was an Olympic competition.
“He trained for them with whiteboards and mock debates,” she said.
She said his enthusiasm defined his work at Turning Point USA.
Carrying On His Legacy
On Thursday, TPUSA unanimously appointed Erika as CEO and chair.
She said Charlie wanted her to take the role if he died.
She vowed to make TPUSA “the biggest thing this nation has ever seen.”
She promised, “Charlie, I will never let your legacy die.”
She thanked President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their families.
Kirk’s memorial service is scheduled for Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
