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Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has opened up about the moments following her husband's assassination and why she will never watch the footage of his killing. Speaking in an emotional interview on Jesse Watters Primetime, Erika said she has never seen—and never intends to see—the video showing the fatal shooting during Charlie's appearance at Utah Valley University on September 10.
"I never saw the video; I never will see it," she said. "There are certain things you see in your life that mark your soul forever. I don't want my husband's public assassination to be something I ever see. I don't want my kids to ever see that."
The Turning Point USA co-founder was shot in the neck while addressing students during a stop on his American Comeback Tour. The attack, which was caught on video by multiple attendees, spread across social media within minutes. Erika said she was in Arizona caring for her mother when she got the call that her husband had been shot. "I sprinted out of her treatment center and just collapsed in the middle of the parking lot," she recalled.
Describing the moment she arrived at the hospital, Erika said the scene was "like a horror movie." Despite being advised by law enforcement to wait before viewing the body, she insisted on seeing her husband. "With all due respect, sir, I want to see what they did to my husband, and I want to give him a kiss because I didn't get to give him a kiss this morning," she told the officer.
Erika described finding Charlie with "a knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile." She added, "That smirk to me is that look of, 'You thought you could stop what I've built. You got my body, you didn't get my soul.'"
Reflecting on his death, she said the bullet killed him instantly. "He literally blinked and probably thought he was raptured and looked around and was like, 'Where's everybody else?' He blinked, and he was with the Lord."
Although prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, Erika said she does not support it. "I do not want this man's blood on my ledger when I stand before the Lord," she said, emphasizing that justice will ultimately be served.
Since her husband's death, Erika has taken over as CEO of Turning Point USA, pledging to continue expanding its reach in schools and campuses. She said Charlie's mission will live on, adding that what he stood for "can't be stopped by a bullet."
