Charlie Kirk widow: ‘The movement my husband built will not die’

Charlie Kirk’s widow on Friday said she will work to preserve the legacy of the conservative activist and carry on the mission of Turning Point USA.

“To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die,” Erika Kirk said in a Friday night livestream, making her first public comments since her husband’s death.

“All of us will refuse to let that happen,” she continued. ” No one will ever forget my husband’s name, and I will make sure of it.”

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Wednesday in Utah. On Friday, state and federal law enforcement identified the suspected shooter as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.

Turning Point USA, a high school and college conservative nonprofit, was founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012. During the decade since, Kirk became a leading right-wing commentator.

After Kirk’s assassination President Trump, Vice President Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) all shared personal memories of Kirk as a champion on the campaign trail and a closed door adviser.

Erika Kirk said Friday her husband was a “martyr” for the nation and pledged to expand Turning Point USA in his honor.

“I promise I’ll make Turning Point the biggest thing this nation has ever seen,” Erika said during the livestream. “I promise Charlie.”

The non-profit hosts a watch list to identifying professors who “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the class-room,” and also backs student government candidates.

Kirk frequently traveled to campuses across the country to debate students with opposing political views. He was speaking to a group at Utah Valley University when he was shot this week.