Sunday’s memorial for Charlie Kirk drew a massive crowd, with nearly 100,000 people gathering to mourn the conservative figure in person.

His wife, Erika Kirk, delivered a deeply emotional speech and later spoke with The New York Times, opening up about the harrowing moment she first saw her husband’s body after he was fatally shot.

Charlie Kirk was tragically shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA event on September 10 at Utah Valley University, in front of thousands of witnesses. Panic erupted across the campus as Kirk’s family, who were reportedly in attendance, experienced the chaos of the shocking attack.

Six men carried Kirk to an SUV that rushed him to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, where he was later pronounced dead.

The FBI later confirmed the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who has been charged with Kirk’s murder.

”His eyes were semi-open”
On Sunday, September 21, a memorial was held for Kirk, drawing a crowd of over 90,000, with speakers including Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Erika Kirk, who now serves as CEO of Turning Point USA.

In an emotional interview with The New York Times, Erika opened up about seeing her husband’s body after the shooting.

”His eyes were semi-open,” she said. ”And he had this knowing, Mona Lisa-like half-smile. Like he died happy. Like Jesus rescued him. The bullet came, he blinked, and he was in heaven.”

Speaking during her memorial speech, Erika described the horror of the moment, but also the unexpected comfort she found in it. She told The Guardian:

”I saw the wound that ended his life. I felt everything he would expect to feel. I felt shock. I felt horror, and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed. But there was something else, too. Even in death, I could see the man that I love.”

What the doctor told her
She revealed that the surgeon who attended to Kirk assured her he had not suffered.

”I also saw on his lips the faintest smile. And that told me something important. It revealed to me a great mercy from God in this tragedy. When I saw that, it told me Charlie didn’t suffer. Even the doctor told me – it was something so instant that even if Charlie had been shot in the operating room itself, nothing could have been done.”

Erika continued, reflecting on the moment her husband’s life ended:

”One moment, Charlie was doing what he loved, arguing and debating on campus, fighting for the gospel and truth in front of a big crowd, then he blinked. He blinked and saw his savior in paradise.”

TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet has also addressed the circumstances surrounding Charlie’s death on X, commenting on the unusual lack of an exit wound. He wrote:

“I want to address some of the discussion about the lack of an exit wound with Charlie. I’m usually not interested in delving into most of this kind of online chatter, and I apologize this is somewhat graphic, but in this case, the fact that there wasn’t an exit wound is probably another miracle, and I want people to know.

“I just spoke with the surgeon who worked on Charlie in the hospital… He said the bullet ‘absolutely should have gone through, which is very very normal for a high powered, high velocity round. I’ve seen wounds from this caliber many times and they always just go through everything. This would have taken a moose or two down, an elk, etc’. But it didn’t go through. Charlie’s body stopped it.”