In a heartbreaking new interview, Erika Kirk revealed that she now wears her late husband’s pendant of Saint Michael the Archangel—the heavenly warrior who cast Satan out of heaven and defends the faithful in spiritual battle. The cross on that pendant is still stained with Charlie’s blood from the night he was assassinated. Medics ripped it from his body as they tried to stop the bleeding after he was shot at Utah Valley University on September 10.
The widow explained that Charlie had spoken before about the possibility of a violent death, almost as if he knew the risks that came with his mission. The night before his final event, the couple had prayed over dinner with a faith leader. Erika begged him to wear a bulletproof vest or at least speak from behind glass. Charlie refused. Confident in his team, he pressed forward with his 20-campus tour. “Not yet,” he told her. It was the courage of a man who knew his calling.
When the sheriff advised her not to see his body, Erika pushed back: “With all due respect, I want to see what they did to my husband.” What she found was not horror, but peace: “His eyes were semi-open, and he had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile. Like he’d died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven.”
Since Charlie’s death, Erika has struggled with the daily reminders of loss. She admitted she still hasn’t washed the towels from his last shower and can’t bring herself to sleep in their bedroom. Yet, even in grief, she carries the mission forward—Turning Point USA’s board unanimously named her as its new CEO.
On the subject of justice, Erika said she refuses to let vengeance stain her soul: “Do I want the death penalty for him? I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger. Because when I get to heaven, and Jesus is like: ‘Eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’ That keeps me from being with Charlie.” That’s forgiveness, even when the world says revenge.
She also revealed that President Trump has called her twice since the tragedy. “Charlie was like a son to him,” Erika said, noting that Trump’s voice was “soft and embracing.” “I could tell he wanted to hug me,” she added.
Erika now carries both the pendant and the mission. A symbol of Charlie’s sacrifice—and a reminder that faith, not fear, is how you defeat evil.
