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Erica Kirk clutched her rosary and fought back tears as she re-entered the community on Thursday.
As you’ve no doubt heard, Erica’s husband, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.
There have been reports that Erika was in the audience at the event where the shooting took place, but these claims remain unconfirmed.
Erica Kirk makes first public appearance since husband’s death
Understandably, Erika has largely kept a low profile in the days since her husband was killed.
But yesterday she rolled down the window of the SUV she was driving so she could drag supporters to Arizona.
According to a report from the New York Post , a crowd of people waved American flags as the hearse carrying the remains of Erica and her husband arrived at the Hansen Mortuary Chapel in Phoenix.
Erica was joined by Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, who arranged for Charlie’s remains to be flown from Utah to Arizona on two Air Force Ones.
Vance sang Kirk’s praises in a heartfelt X message shortly after news of the shooting became public:
“A while ago, probably in 2017, I appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox Show to talk about God knows what. Then a name I barely knew DMed me on Twitter and told me I did a great job. It was Charlie Kirk,” the vice president wrote in the post.
“Charlie was passionate about ideas and was always willing to learn and change his mind. Like me, he was skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016. Like me, he came to see President Trump as the only figure capable of moving American politics away from the globalism that had dominated our entire lives,” he added.
“When others were right, he learned from them. When he was right – as he usually was – he was generous. With Charlie, the attitude was never, ‘I told you so.’ But: ‘You’re welcome.'”
“Charlie constantly called and texted, checking in on our family and offering guidance and prayers,” Vance continued in a separate post.
“After every event, he gave me a big hug, told me he was praying for me, and asked what he could do.”
Supporters mourn alongside Charlie Kirk’s widow
Erika – a ministry leader and podcast host with millions of Instagram followers – has received an outpouring of support following her husband’s death.
President Donald Trump and other public figures have offered condolences to the mother of two.
As we previously reported, a 22-year-old Utah resident named Tyler Robinson has been arrested in connection with Kirk’s death.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
