The shooting of prolific conservative influencer Charlie Kirk has thrown his wife Erika Kirk into the spotlight.
The 36-year-old Arizonian, who is the mother of Kirk’s two children, has found herself addressing the nation in powerful tributes to her late husband, while promising to continue his work as the CEO of Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organisation he co-founded.
It all comes after Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while addressing students at Utah Valley University on 10 September.
But what do we know about Mrs Kirk, how did she meet her husband and what has she said after his death?
From basketball player to Miss Arizona
Mrs Kirk, born Erika Frantzve, played collegiate basketball for Regis University in Denver, Colorado, before becoming a model and winning Miss Arizona USA in 2012.
She told NBC’s Arizona network that she set up a non-profit called Everyday Heroes Like You when she was 17, aiming to promote various existing charitable foundations in her community.
Later, she set up a faith-oriented fashion brand called Proclaim, and began her own religious podcast, Midweek Rise Up, in 2019.
When did she meet Charlie Kirk?
The pair met in 2018, when Kirk invited Mrs Kirk to a burger restaurant in New York, after meeting her briefly at a Turning Point USA office opening.
A clip recently shared by Mrs Kirk shows her husband recounting the story of how they met to their daughter.
In it, he says: “I was asking all these questions [about] philosophy, religion, Jesus. And then I realised, mama was beautiful, smart, elegant and Christ-like, and so I said: ‘Forget this job interview, I want to date you’.”
In another recent Instagram post, Mrs Kirk said they bonded early in their relationship over their mutual love of basketball and played on court together to escape “the demands of the world for a minute”.
The couple became engaged in 2020, married the following year and had their two children in 2022 and 2024.
Kirk emphasised the importance of family values and Christian ideology, while also promoting polarising right-wing views on contentious topics like gun control, free speech, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion rights.
What did Erika Kirk say after her husband’s death?
Days after Kirk’s killing on 10 September, Mrs Kirk addressed the nation in a video filmed in the studio where her husband used to record his podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show.
She described him as a “perfect” husband and father, before addressing his killer directly.
“You have no idea of 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.
“If you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea, you have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country and this world, you have no idea.”
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She thanked President Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance and his “phenomenal” wife, Usha, for their support, and praised the emergency teams who tried to save her husband’s life.
Kirk was a significant part of the Trump administration’s MAGA movement, proving particularly influential among young people.
“I promise I will never let your legacy die,” she said, addressing her husband, vowing to make his movement the “biggest thing this nation has ever seen”.
A week later she was formally announced as Turning Point USA’s CEO.
The non-profit, aimed at mobilising university-age Republicans, was set up by Kirk in 2012, when he was 18, alongside fellow conservative activist Bill Montgomery.
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Turning Point attached itself to Mr Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, and went on to become a hugely successful entity, raising hundreds of millions of dollars as it helped to build a coalition of young conservatives around the country.
The group’s website says it has 450 members of staff and presences in 3,000 high schools and university campuses.
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Mrs Kirk says she ‘forgives’ husband’s killer
Mrs Kirk spoke again at a memorial service for her husband on Sunday 21 September, this time in front of tens of thousands of people at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
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“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said.
“I forgive him,” she said, adding it was “what Charlie would do”.
“The answer to hate is not hate, the answer we know from the gospel is love, and always love – love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk.
