Charlie Kirk’s widow breaks silence on killing after Tyler Robinson arrest: Live updates – UK Times

Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika paid emotional tribute to her late husband in her first public statement since the political activist’s murder.

In a Turning Point USA livestream broadcast on Friday evening, a tearful Erika Kirk vowed to continue her husband’s work against ‘evil-doers’ and spoke directly to his killer, saying: “you have no idea of the first you have ignited.”

Kirk also thanked Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance’s wife Usha for their support following his husband’s assassination on Wednesday.

Watch Erika Kirk’s full statement below.

Bullet casings uncovered from the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University were engraved with anti-fascist messages and meme culture-related messages, reports reveal.

“Hey fascist! Catch!”, one casing read, according to Utah governor Spencer Cox, who said the message “speaks for itself”.

Another bullet casing reportedly read “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao ciao”, referencing the Italian song for resistance fighters against Nazi troops.

Yet another casing had the message ““If you read this, you are gay LMAO”, CNN reported.

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, addressed the nation Friday night for the first time since her husband’s assassination two days prior. Here’s a recap of what she said:

• Erika thanked law enforcement for capturing the suspected gunman who fatally shot Kirk at Utah Valley University during an event for his conservative organization Turning Point USA’s “The American Comeback” tour.
• She also thanked first responders who “struggled heroically to save Charles’ life,” executives at Turning Point USA for “all their work in these terrible days,” Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, for bringing her husband’s coffin home and President Donald Trump for his “amazing” friendship.
• Erika vowed to continue her husband’s work, saying, “ You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”
• She said “The American Comeback” tour will continue, as will Turning Point’s America Fest in December.
• Erika recalled telling her three-year-old daughter that Charlie is on “a work trip with Jesus” after she asked her, “Where’s daddy?”
• She encouraged high school and college students to find a local Turning Point chapter to join and encouraged anyone who isn’t a member of a church to join one.

An Office Depot worker was reportedly fired in Michigan, U.S., after a video surfaced online showing her refusing to print posters of assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The printing work was allegedly refused, claiming it was “political propaganda”.

A video of the incident, filmed by a member of the Kalamazoo County Republican Party around 2.30pm local time on Friday, has been going viral on social media.

It shows a man placing an order for a poster to highlight an upcoming vigil for Kirk.

“So we came in for an order earlier to print a poster for our vigil tonight,” a customer can be heard saying in the footage to which the worker replies it is “it’s propaganda”, adding “we don’t print that here”.

Office Depot confirmed in a post online that an investigation has been launched and that the worker was terminated.

“The behaviour displayed by our associate is completely unacceptable and insensitive, violates our company policies and does not reflect the values we uphold at Office Depot,” the company said.

“We also launched an immediate internal review and, as a result, the associate involved is no longer with the organisation,” Office Depot said.

An anonymously registered website pledges to “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” and asks people to offer tips about people who were “supporting political violence online.”

The site published a running list Thursday of targeted posts, along with the names, locations and employers of people who posted them.

While some posts contained incendiary language, others didn’t appear to celebrate the shooting or glorify violence.

Kirk’s assassination has been deeply polarizing, and everyone from teachers, university staffers and media personalities, to firefighters, a U.S. Secret Service agent and a Marine is now finding themselves in hot water for reveling in the killing.

Read on for more details.

Tyler Robinson, the Utah man identified as the shooter, was apprehended by authorities Thursday evening after more than a day of searching for him. Officials said they were informed Robinson “confessed” or at least implied he fatally shot Kirk to a family member.

Robinson reportedly expressed negative views of Kirk and had spoken with a family member the day before the shooting “who also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” Cox said.

The man suspected of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk joined the Mormon church at a young age, a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told The New York Times.

It is not clear if Robinson was an active member of the church recently.

“I can confirm that Robinson became a member of the Church at a young age but refer any further inquiry about his Church activity to him or his family,” spokesman Doug Andersen told the outlet.

The church said it condemned “violence and lawless behavior” in a statement on Wednesday.

The Church’s global headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the state has the highest Mormon population, with 2.2 million members.

President Donald Trump’s heated reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk has provided a stark contrast with the way his predecessors have tended to deal with moments of crisis through American history.

But following the fatal shooting of Kirk, a 31-year-old Republican activist who was close with the president and his family, Trump used his social media to post a video blaming “the radical left” for the assassination and ”the media” for creating a tense political environment.

Some have criticized Trump’s reaction at a time when a U.S. president might usually be expected to seek to calm the situation.

The NFL has clarified that it’s up to clubs to decide whether or not they want to hold a moment of silence for Charlie Kirk ahead of the Week 2 games on Sunday.

At Thursday night’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders, a moment of silence was held for Kirk.

That decision was the league’s, the NFL said in a statement.

“Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games,” the NFL clarified.

The organization said there have been “a variety of moments of silence and tributes” in stadiums and on-air following significant national events, and clubs will often hold a moment of silence after a tragic event.

The league cited events this calendar year.

“This summer before the Hall of Fame game in Canton, the league honored the victims and those impacted by the attack at 345 Park Avenue. During Week 18 games last season, the NFL honored the victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack. Also, that season the NFL held a moment to recognize those lost in the deadly crashes near Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia and also prior to the Vikings-Rams Wild Card game that was moved from LA to Arizona due to the wildfires,” the statement said.

Experts warn the assassination of Charlie Kirk is the latest in a deeply concerning surge in political violence across the U.S. during the Trump era.

Data shows the U.S. is experiencing most profound surge in political violence since the 1970s.

“It’s clear that we’ve had some major political violence incidents in the last few years and that it is more than we had come to expect, certainly since say the 1960s,” Wendy Via, CEO of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent.

“Political violence has been around as long as there have been politics, but I do think that the last few years are different.”

Josh Marcus has the details.