During the Turning Point USA Women’s Leadership Summit in Texas on Friday, Erika Kirk faced an unexpected disruption. A heckler accused her of “protecting pedophiles” while she was delivering her speech.

Erika Kirk, who recently assumed the role of CEO at TPUSA following the tragic assassination of her husband, Charlie Kirk, was addressing the audience when the interruption occurred.

The heckler, a woman, persistently shouted, “Erika Kirk protects pedophiles! Erika Kirk protects pedophiles!” in an attempt to derail the event.

Despite the initial boos from the crowd, Kirk managed to turn the situation around, transforming the jeers into applause with her response.

She calmly replied, “Happiness comes and goes, and I pray that you find it,” garnering support from the audience.

The crowd in San Antonio roared with approval as the heckler was removed, shouting: ‘We love you, Erika!’

‘I love you guys, too,’ she responded. 

‘That’s an important moment because, that just showed duty to faithfulness gives our life meaning and we must pray for our enemies and those that do not feel that their life has meaning.’

Erika Kirk was accused of ‘protecting pedophiles’ by a heckler during her speech at the Turning Point USA Women’s Leadership Summit on Friday in Texas

Kirk, who has taken over as CEO of TPUSA in the wake of her husband Charlie’s assassination, was giving her address when interrupted with the vile slur

The crowd went wild again with cheers and repeated that they loved the Turning Point CEO. 

‘That’s a perfect example. You pray for your enemies, you pray for those that persecute you. That’s not the enemy, we know who the real enemy is.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Turning Point USA for comment.  

Charlie Kirk was assassinated during a speech at Utah Valley University last September. 

Erika also was in attendance and seen in tears leaving the White House Correspondents Dinner following an assassination attempt against Donald Trump.

Earlier Friday, Kirk revealed for the first time closely guarded video footage of her slain husband telling donors he would appoint her as CEO of his organization if anything should ever happen to him.

‘I appoint my wife to run Turning Point USA if something happens to me,’ Kirk is featured saying in the minute-long clip. ‘Erika would do a great job.’

The footage aired as part of an introduction video for Erika, 37, as she took the stage to open the summit.

The female heckler repeated: ‘Erika Kirk protects pedophiles! Erika Kirk protects pedophiles!’

As the crowd booed, however, Kirk turned the jeers to applause with a comeback. ‘Happiness comes and goes and I pray that you find it,’ she said

The introduction footage highlighted Erika’s marriage to Charlie and their time together before he was assassinated at an outdoor college speaking event on September 12, 2025.

The footage concluded with Kirk’s daughter introducing her mother to the stage.

‘It’s incredible. I love how she did this, she released this on her terms not theirs. It was perfect,’ a Turning Point insider told the Daily Mail. 

After Kirk’s death, the Turning Point USA board voted Erika to take his place as CEO, citing Charlie’s expressed wishes.

Kirk was filmed speaking about the topic at an August 2025 event for donors in Aspen, Colorado. When one donor asked Kirk what would happen to his juggernaut conservative youth organizing movement should something happen to him, he replied that he would appoint Erika to replace him.

Three weeks after the Aspen event, a worst nightmare was realized: Charlie, 31, was shot and killed by an alleged assassin while speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10.

Erika has referred to the video in public interviews, but footage of her late husband’s remarks has been kept private by the organization. 

The decision raised suspicions from critics who believed that it didn’t exist, or that it was fake footage generated by artificial intelligence.

The crowd in San Antonio roared with approval as the heckler was removed, shouting ‘we love you, Erika!’

After Kirk’s death, the Turning Point USA board voted Erika to take his place as CEO, citing Charlie’s expressed wishes

Former Turning Point communications director-turned-media personality Candace Owens has repeatedly alleged that the video may be fake as part of a scheme to seize control of Turning Point.

Owens has demanded the public release of the video. On the set of her popular podcast, she has a photo of Charlie Kirk Show producer Blake Neff with a numbered counter marking the days since she made her request.

Details of the video were a closely guarded secret until the Daily Mail published them for the first time in May.

‘Kind of a hard question to ask, but I think it’s probably important to everybody in this room and I’m wondering about Turning Point’s succession plan should, God forbid, something happen to you,’ the concerned benefactor asked.

‘What a great question,’ Kirk responded, deadpan, prompting tense laughter in the crowd.

Kirk was hosting a Q&A session at the triumphant gathering. They were, in part, celebrating Turning Point’s role in helping elect President Donald Trump and making plans to found new group chapters in American high schools.

Several people in the room thought the question seemed like a distraction, but Kirk took time to answer it.

Some of America’s great ‘founder-led’ organizations, he observed, had collapsed after their original leader left. His goal at Turning Point USA, he explained, was to make it ‘vision-led.’

Erika speaks with President Donald Trump during a Turning Point USA event 

The Turning Point USA video used to introduce Erika Kirk at their annual summit for women leaders 

‘A lot of my job is not always in the day-to-day details. It’s very much vision casting, very much driving success,’ he said.

‘We have a great board and God forbid if something happens, they’ll figure it out. I appoint my wife to run Turning Point USA if something happens to me. Erika would do a great job,’ he said reassuringly before moving to the next question.

The Daily Mail reviewed the footage and interviewed multiple Turning Points donors, some of whom were in the room during the Aspen event.

It was not the first time Kirk had comprehended his mortality, longtime Turning Point USA board member Mike Miller told the Daily Mail.

As Kirk’s fame and success grew, so did his fears of what would happen to the mission in his absence, Miller said.

When Kirk reportedly started receiving death threats, Miller was emphatic that Turning Point hire personal security, as well as put a succession plan in place.

‘I said, Charlie, “God forbid something happens, what do you recommend that we do?” He said, “Erika is very bright, she can handle it, we have discussed this. I would be totally comfortable with Erika running things,”‘ Miller recalled.

‘This is not a new question that he had from people,’ another Turning Point board member told the Daily Mail. ‘I remember this topic coming up repeatedly over the years.’

Donald Trump Jr, a close friend of the couple, told the Daily Mail he recalled speaking with Kirk about the future of Turning Point USA, especially as threats to conservative figures escalated during the 2024 election.

‘After the attempt on my father’s life in Butler, Charlie and I spoke multiple times about the death threats we both constantly faced, and in those conversations he made it abundantly clear to me that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted Erika to be left in charge of Turning Point,’ he said. 

‘He wasn’t shy about saying it and didn’t keep it a secret from those of us who were close to him.’

CHICAGO (WLS) — In a tragic incident on Chicago’s South Side, seven individuals were shot, resulting in two fatalities, according to the local police.

Among those who lost their lives is a renowned chef from the city, adding a layer of heartbreak to the tragedy.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The violent episode occurred around 12:26 a.m. on Friday in the 5100 block of South Wood Street.

Authorities reported that two assailants approached a group gathered outside, brandished firearms, and opened fire on them.

One man sustained gunshot wounds to his head, chest, and leg. He was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, as confirmed by police.

Another male victim was shot in the abdomen and transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A 23-year-old woman was shot in the head and transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

A 54-year-old man was shot in the ankle and transported to Stroger Hospital in fair condition. A 30-year-old woman was shot in the thigh and hand and transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she was in fair condition.

A 32-year-old man was shot in the torso and transported to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he was listed in good condition. A 21-year-old man was shot in the back and was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.

“I’m scared, honestly it’s dangerous,” Mario Ramirez, who lives nearby, said.

Ramirez said he heard what sounded like machine guns – rapidly firing gunshots outside his home shortly after midnight.

“Last night I was sleeping,” Ramirez said. “I live right here. I just moved in a couple months ago and this is the second time I’ve heard shots, really bad. Last night was really crazy. Yeah really bad.”

“I know some people died because some people were praying in the night,” Ramirez said.

Someone who said he’s a violence interrupter told ABC7 they just talked about this particular area being a problem at a recent meeting.

“Eventually when people hang out all day – party drinking these things happen,” he said. “We just talked about this at the CAPS meeting Wednesday about what’s happening on this block. Just hanging out all night, loud, making noise music and drinking.”

One woman said her red car was parked on the street when a vehicle slammed into it – amid the chaos.

Neighbor Mario Ramirez has a daughter and a newborn. This has scared him and his family so much, he said they now want to move away.

“I’m gonna move,” he said. “This is my last month living there. I talked to the guy already. Because I have children and it’s really dangerous.”

Chemistry Steakhouse in Hyde Park was one of the first of many restaurants Chef Isaac “Wavy” Bradley, one of the victims killed in the shooting, helped to create. But his family says another passion of his was being a barber and mentor, and says he was doing just that before the mass shooting took his life.

“It’s heartbreaking. It really is, and Isaac wasn’t finished,” Bradley’s close friend Tenesha Ford said.

“I remember when he first opened up this place,” Bradley’s brother David Johnson said. “So, for me to be here without him, it doesn’t seem like that’s what it should be.”

Chicago’s restaurant scene is now left in pieces after the loss of Chef “Wavy,” who, for years, was one of its leading forces.

“The community lost Isaac. We lost the future to restaurants,” Ford said.

The tragic loss happened overnight during a mass shooting in the same neighborhood where Bradley was raised.

“He was leaving from cutting someone’s hair, from what I was told, and as he was leaving to go, shots rang out,” his sister Rhena Bradley said.

“We started to work so well together, and created brands like Litehouse Whole Food Grill, Stussy’s Diner, Chemistry’s, Soul Shack,” Isaac Bradley’s business partner Erik “Rico” Nance said.

Nance said they planning a big box store rollout for Bradley’s so-called Soul Rolls.

“To go into all the Meijers and Krogers, and Jewels and stuff like that all over,” Nance said. “We were in our final meeting to finalize those things, actually this morning at nine o’clock. And of course, we learned that he passed right before that meeting.”

But Bradley’s legacy is still left behind, though now in the hands of broken hearts.

“Just walk with me, one more walk, one more conversation. Let me pick your brain again. Fuss at me. Like something,” Rhena Bradley said. “We don’t get to get anything.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Isaac Bradley’s family.

The other victim killed in the mass shooting has not yet been identified by officials.

Cook County Crime Stoppers is now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest of those responsible for the mass shooting.

Area One detectives are investigating.

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