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GLENDALE, Ariz. () Erika Kirk, the wife of slain conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, said that she forgives the suspect accused of killing her husband as he spoke to a crowd of students at a Utah college campus.
“My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said. On the cross our savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do.’ I forgive him (Kirk’s alleged killer) because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate.”
Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner following the shooting that he “had enough” of Kirk’s opinions.
During her eulogy, Erika Kirk said she was proud of the reaction of her husband’s followers, who she said mourned in the appropriate manner by leaning on prayer.
“After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence. We didn’t see rioting. We didn’t see revolution. Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in the country: We saw revival. We saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade. We saw people pray for the first time since they were children.”
Throughout the service, speakers highlighted Kirk’s faith and his strong belief that young conservatives need to get married, build families, and pass on their values to keep building their movement. They also repeatedly told conservative activists that the best way to honor Kirk was to double down on his mission to move American politics further to the right.
It was announced last week that Erika Kirk will lead Turning Point USA as its CEO and chair of the board in the wake of her husband’s death, the organization announced.
Charlie Kirk co-founded the conservative political advocacy group Turning Point USA in 2012.