Erika Kirk has said that arriving at the hospital shortly after her husband, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot was like “a scene from a horror movie,” leaving friends, colleagues and even law enforcement stunned by the incident.
Kirk, now CEO of the political advocacy group Turning Point USA, said she was advised not to see the MAGA commentator’s body immediately, but wanted to see “what they did to my husband.”
The 36-year-old recalled the horrific events during a sit-down with Jesse Watters Primetime that aired Wednesday night. The emotional television interview was her first since Kirk was killed on a college campus in Utah on September 10.
Kirk recalled that everyone at the hospital seemed “so shaken” by the brutal shooting and that a police officer advised her to wait until her husband’s body was taken to the morgue to visit him.
“He was very sweet, but what do you say to someone whose husband had just been killed in such a public way? She told Watters. “He said, ‘I’m never going to say you can’t see your husband … but I think, in my professional opinion, you should wait until you see him … Because I don’t think you want to see him like that.’
Erika Kirk said arriving at the hospital shortly after her husband, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot was like a “scene from a horror movie,” leaving friends, colleagues and even law enforcement stunned by the incident (Fox News/Jesse Watters Primetime).
The emotional television interview was her first since Kirk was killed on a college campus in Utah on September 10. (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
“And I answered him… ‘With all due respect, sir… I want to see what they did to my husband and I want to kiss him because I wasn’t supposed to kiss him this morning.’
She also said her husband had a “smiling” look on his face.
“To me, that smile is that look that you thought you could stop what I made,” she said. “You thought you could end this vision, this movement, this rebirth, you thought you could do it by killing me. You got my body, you didn’t get my soul.”
With that thought, Kirk said she believed her husband would not return to Earth, God given the chance, if it meant trading his life for “what his death would be the catalyst for.”
Kirk said she believed her husband would not return to Earth, if God gave him the chance, if it meant trading his life for “something his death would be a catalyst for” (Getty Images)
“He would say no,” she said.
Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with multiple felonies, including aggravated murder, in Kirk’s death. Robinson allegedly fired a shot that hit a MAGA commentator in the neck before jumping off the roof and fleeing the chaos at Utah Valley University.
The graphic moment was caught on video and shared widely on social media, although Kirk said she didn’t see it and vowed never to. “There are certain things you see in your life that mark your soul forever. I don’t want the public killing of my husband to be something I ever see. I don’t want my children to see that,” she said.
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of Kirk’s murder. He will return to court in person on January 16.
Tyler Robinson, 22, faces multiple charges, including aggravated murder, in the death of Charlie Kirk. Robinson allegedly fired a shot that hit a MAGA commentator in the neck before jumping off the roof and fleeing the chaos at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if he is convicted
Asked if she also thought the death penalty was appropriate for Robinson, Erika Kirk said, “I don’t want this man’s blood on my book when I stand before the Lord, I want the government to decide… Justice will be done in the end.”
But she added that the public deserves to see “what real evil is” and rejected defense efforts to block the cameras from the court. “Where my husband was killed, there were cameras everywhere,” she told Watters.
“All my friends and family were on camera, grieving. There were cameras everywhere. They were analyzing my every move, my every smile, my every tear. We deserve the cameras.”
“Why not be transparent?” she continued. “There’s nothing to hide. I know there isn’t because I’ve seen what the case is based on. Let everyone see what true evil is. It can affect a generation and generations to come.”