Charlie Kirk’s devastated widow Erika wept over her slain husband’s open casket and grasped his hand, heart-wrenching images she shared on her social media Saturday show.
Erika Kirk, 36, can be heard repeatedly whispering “I love you” as she kisses Kirk’s hand for the final time. “I love you, I love you, I know, I miss you so much,” the grieving widow told her husband as he laid in a casket.
“They have no idea what they just ignited within this wife. If they thought my husband’s mission was big now..you have no idea,” the mom of two wrote in the caption early Saturday morning.
Erika Kirk grieving at her husband’s open casket.Erika Kirk
Erika Kirk shared the emotional images on Instagram.Erika Kirk
The grieving widow held Kirk’s yellowed hands.Erika Kirk“You. All of you. Will never. Ever. Forget my husband,” she wrote. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Erika Kirk shared the viral post in the early hours of Saturday morning, with the first picture in the 12-image carousel showing her young family in front of a backdrop of gorgeous red sandstone formations.
Erika Kirk waves to supporters who gathered to watch as a motorcade escorted the body of her husband to Hansen Mortuary Chapel in Phoenix on Thursday.Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesIn the shot, Charlie Kirk is the only one in the family four smiling directly at the camera — his young children face backwards in their parents’ arms as Erika Kirk plants a resolute kiss on her son.
The rest of the images and clips show the aftermath of this week’s assassination as Erika Kirk lays her husband to rest for eternity.
Erika Kirk mourns the loss of her husband.Erika Kirk
Charlie Kirk’s casket being loaded into a hearse.Erika Kirk
The grieving widow shared an image of herself draped over Charlie Kirk’s casket, her long hair noticeably undone, completely deviating from her typically pristine image.
Several pictures show the grieving widow holding Charlie Kirk’s yellowed hands and giving him final embraces as she weeps: “I love you. God Bless you.”
Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha Vance and wife of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Erika Frantzve, exit Air Force Two, which carried Kirk’s body to Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday.REUTERS
One of the clips captured a group of men carrying the casket to a hearse bound for an airfield, where it was transported onto Air Force Two and flown to Arizona.
Along the way, the motorcade passed by a massive flag at half-staff — which had been ordered by President Trump through Sunday to honor Charlie Kirk’s memory, one of the videos shows.
Charlie and Erika Kirk with their children.Erika Kirk
The widow also shared clips of herself embracing Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha — including one of the Second Lady holding Erika Kirk as she wails outside the hearse.
“The world is evil,” Erika Kirk wrote.
“The sound of this widow weeping echos throughout this world like a battle cry. I have no idea what any of this means. But baby I know you do and so does our Lord,” she continued.
Those in Arizona mourn Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk outside of the Turning Point USA headquarters on Friday in Phoenix, Arizona.AFP via Getty Images
“Rest in the arms of our Lord baby as he blankets you with the words I know your heart always strived to hear, “well done My good and faithful servant.”
Before 9 a.m., the post had garnered more than 3 million likes and 134,000 comments before she disabled the latter feature.
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Charlie Kirk’s death comes just weeks after the couple celebrated the seventh anniversary of their first date.
“[W]e sat inside Bills Burgers in NYC deep in conversation and banter over theology, philosophy, and politics and at the end, you paused, looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to date you,'” Erika wrote in a Sept. 5, 2023, post.
Vice President JD Vance and US Air Force pallbearers escort the remains of Charlie Kirk to Air Force 2.X/@tylerbowyer
The couple married in 2021 and share two young children — a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.
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Erika Kirk, who was named Miss Arizona USA in 2012, has been a constant presence at her husband’s side throughout his career, following him to his many college campus events like the one at Utah Valley University, where he was ultimately killed.
She also chronicled their life together on social media, frequently posting about their romance and their shared religious devotion.
The couple married in 2021 and share a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.Instagram/mrserikakirk
Three weeks before her husband’s death, Erika Kirk shared a now-foreshadowing Instagram post imploring parents to relish the small moments because “you don’t get forever.”
“Life, weirdly enough, is a countdown,” Erika Kirk wrote on the Aug. 20 post showing a carousel of pictures of the family of four on a hike.
“Everything in these photos are the fleeting fullness we prayed for … It’s moments like these that make me want to hold our children tighter in the spaces between kisses. Don’t wish away the chaos of now. Because one day, the house will be still, and the only sound will be the echo of memories long grown.”