Erika Kirk is assembling a collection of memorabilia documenting her late husband Charlie’s life and work, with the possibility that it could eventually be displayed in a presidential library-style museum.
Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University.
During a Fox News tour of Charlie’s keepsakes at Turning Point USA’s Arizona headquarters, Erika, 37, was asked whether a museum modeled on a presidential library might one day showcase the memories and materials from his life and career.
“It’s on our list, and it’s something that we have in the works,” she said in the interview, which aired Friday.
Erika already has many of the kinds of items commonly displayed in such institutions, including Charlie’s handwritten letters, Bibles given to him by Turning Point USA supporters and other personal belongings.
“I’m just so blessed and grateful that Charlie left with us hundreds of his journals. He wrote down a lot about the future of Turning Point and the vision of Turning Point,” she said.
She also said she expects TPUSA, as it continues to develop, to endure for generations.
Erika Kirk (pictured) is assembling a collection of memorabilia from her late husband Charlie’s life and work that could eventually be displayed in a presidential library-style museum
Charlie Kirk (pictured right) was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University
“I want to make sure that it’s something where our students that are currently in chapters, one day, their children will be chapter leaders or chapter members,” Erika said.
Erika has spoken publicly in recent weeks following the first anniversary of her husband’s assassination.
Charlie, 31, died almost instantly after 23-year-old Tyler Robinson allegedly shot him from a nearby rooftop in what prosecutors described as a sniper-style attack. Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges.
Erika rushed to arrange a private flight to Utah, but Charlie had died before she reached the hospital where he was being treated, she recently told Vanity Fair.
She said a police officer with 20 years of experience advised her not to view Charlie’s body, telling her, “if it were my spouse, I wouldn’t want to remember them this way.”
“I looked back at him and said, ‘With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband. I didn’t get a kiss goodbye this morning. I just want to kiss my husband,’” she told the magazine.
Erika recalled that hospital staff removed the tubes from Charlie’s mouth, wrapped his neck and attempted to clean away the blood.
It was then, she said, that she saw an expression that convinced her Charlie had “saw Jesus” and had “fought the good fight.”
Erika has spoken publicly in recent weeks following the first anniversary of her husband’s death
Erika already has many of Charlie’s belongings, including handwritten letters, Bibles given to him by TPUSA supporters and other personal memorabilia
She recalled that his green eyes were half open and the corners of his lips turned upward. “I’ll never be able to put it into words. But Charlie had a smirk. It wasn’t sad,” she said.
Her reactions in the immediate aftermath of Charlie’s murder were heavily scrutinized online and by conspiracy theorists who questioned how she was mourning her husband.
She was criticized for wearing a gold sequined suit at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest convention in December last year.
But Erika has now claimed she wore the ‘sparkly suit onstage’ because it was the ‘only thing that fit.’
She also went viral the day after Charlie’s death because she sent a Turning Point staff member to the Alo Yoga store in Salt Lake City to purchase plain black clothing for her and several others.
Erika, in her sit down with the magazine, claimed she sent the staffer out because the only clothing item she had with her was a t-shirt from her clothing brand, Proclaim.
The shirt allegedly said ‘heaven is my home’ and ‘I’m just here recruiting,’ which she did not deem appropriate attire for her to wear on Air Force Two as Vice President JD Vance transported her husband’s remains back home.
Erika was appointed CEO of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization that Charlie founded in 2012, after his assassination.
Erika Kirk, with her late husband Charlie and their two children, says she is currently focused on honoring Charlie, caring for her two children and continuing to build Turning Point USA
Although she is now leading the organization, Erika does not have her own office and instead works on the couch in Charlie’s former office.
Earlier this month, the Kirk family sent a wrongful death notice, a precursor to a lawsuit, to Utah officials claiming Utah Valley University (UVU) officials made a string of ‘reckless’ decisions that resulted in Charlie’s death by leaving him vulnerable to the rooftop sniper.
The family claims UVU failed to conduct a ‘meaningful risk assessment’ before the event, including failing to scout out rooftops near the event space where Robinson allegedly fired from.
Charlie’s relatives alleged that UVU Police also did not have a written security plan and failed to hold any security briefings ahead of the event.
The notice, seen by the Daily Mail, read: ‘Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie.’
The Kirk family said they have not assessed a monetary amount for damages they intend to seek against Utah authorities, but said the ‘potential damages are substantial.’
The notice names the State of Utah, UVU, the Utah Valley University Police Department, campus police chief Jeffrey Long, Astrid Tuminez, who was UVU’s president at the time of the assassination, and ‘other state actors.’
In response to the filing, Utah Valley University head of communications Sharon Turner told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware of the notice of claim. UVU addresses legal matters consistent with our established processes. Our focus remains on supporting our campus community.’
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot dead at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. He had been debating students before a crowd of around 3,000 when a sniper opened fire from a rooftop more than 400 feet away
Tyler Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, a charge that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted
An external review released by UVU last week also found that Turning Point insisted Charlie speak outdoors at the university, despite security concerns from campus officials.
UVU’s report also found that the school failed to conduct a formal security assessment and did not properly assess dangers including a potential rooftop shooter.
Campus officials also did not create a written event action plan and deferred critical decision-making to Turning Point, the report said.
Charlie’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, is awaiting trial for murder. He faces the death penalty if found guilty.
