CHARLIE Kirk’s heartbroken widow Erika Frantzve was seen for the first time since her husband’s shocking assassination.
The 31-year-old former Miss Arizona arrived in Phoenix Thursday night alongside Vice President JD Vance and his wife.
ReutersU.S. Vice President JD Vance, his wife Usha Vance and Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika Frantzve exit Air Force Two[/caption]
ReutersThe body of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk is carried from Air Force Two[/caption]
MAGAVoice/XUS Vice President JD Vance carries Charlie Kirk’s coffin off Air Force Two[/caption]
InstagramCharlie and Erika had two young children together[/caption]
Wearing dark sunglasses and clutching a rosary, brave Erika descended Air Force Two hand-in-hand with Usha Vance before watching the conservative firebrand’s coffin be transferred to a hearse.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck Wednesday by a sniper who opened fire from a rooftop 200 yards away as he launched his “American Comeback” tour at Utah Valley University.
His killer remains on the run.
Vance, who cancelled plans to attend a 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero, personally arranged for Kirk’s casket to be flown to Arizona and stood at Frantzve’s side throughout the heartbreaking journey.
What we know so far:
Charlie Kirk was shot dead at Utah Valley University
The FBI released pictures of a ‘person of interest’ wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses
Chilling CCTV shows sniper jump from roof and escape
Kirk’s wife Erika is ‘devastated’, Trump says after emotional phone call
Brave Erika is seen for the first time alongside JD Vance
Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Medal of Freedom
Kirk was warned about safety just months before being killed
Elon Musk blamed Democrats for the assassination
Eyewitness reveal horror details of fatal shot moment
Earlier Thursday, the 41-year-old vice president helped carry Kirk’s wooden casket onto Air Force 2 during a private ceremony at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City.
Mum-of-two Erika and second lady Usha Vance watched in silence as the coffin was placed aboard.
Vance paid tribute to Kirk in a moving post on X, calling him a true friend.
He wrote: “Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers.
“After every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do.”
APCharlie Kirk speaking before he was shot on Wednesday[/caption]
He recalled their unlikely first exchange in 2017 after a TV appearance, describing Kirk as “fascinated by ideas and always willing to learn and change his mind.”
“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: ‘welcome,’” Vance said.
Vance revealed Kirk had even campaigned for him before he ran for the Senate, saying: “no reason to do this, no expectation that I’d go anywhere… He did it because we were friends, and because he was a good man.”
Erika, who married the Turning Point USA founder in 2021, had been in Utah with Kirk’s parents when the assassination unfolded.
The couple shared two young children.
InstagramThe former Miss Arizona USA and the “conservative boy wonder” tied the knot in 2021 after meeting during the Trump years[/caption]
Charlie and Erika with their daughter Sarah Rose, three, and baby son, before his assassinationInstagram
Instagram/charliekirk1776The Turning Point USA co-founder and his wife Erika often spoke about their love for America, God and family[/caption]
President Trump told reporters Thursday he had spoken at length with the devastated widow.
“I spoke to Erika, his wife. And we had a long talk,” Trump said.
“And she’s devastated. She is absolutely devastated, as you can imagine.”
Trump confirmed he will attend Kirk’s funeral, calling it an “obligation,” and announced the conservative firebrand would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
It comes as chilling CCTV footage released by the FBI shows the assassin sprinting across the roof of UVU’s Losee Center seconds after firing the fatal shot.
Charlie Kirk’s enemies chose murder over free speech but here’s why they will never kill what he’s unleashed
by Harry Cole, Editor-at-Large
“WHEN people stop talking, really bad stuff starts,” said Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old father of two and free speech hero cut down by a coward’s bullet.
“When marriages stop talking, divorce happens; when civilisations stop talking, civil war ensues”, Kirk riffed in one of his signature video exchanges with a politically opposed stranger.
“When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group,” continued the clean-cut Christian activist who played a critical role tilting millions of college voters towards Donald Trump last year.
“We as a culture have to get back to being able to have a reasonable disagreement where violence is not an option.”
But his prescient plea was not to be.
His enemies chose murder over free speech.
The most articulate conservative voice of his generation was silenced by a bullet to the throat that law enforcement last night suggested was engraved with “expressions of transgender and antifascist ideology.”
The grainy clip captures the suspect — described as a male who “appears to be of college age” — racing across the roof before lowering himself over the edge, leaping down, and blending into the crowd of students.
He left behind a palm print, footwear impression, and forearm imprints before vanishing into a wooded area, where investigators later recovered a high-powered bolt action rifle believed to be the murder weapon.
FBI agent Robert Bohls confirmed: “I can tell you that we have recovered what we believe is the weapon that was used in yesterday’s shooting… is a high-powered bolt action rifle.
Charlie Kirk’s shooter seen sprinting across the roof on Utah Valley University’s Lossee Center
FBI Salt Lake CityThe FBI released pictures of a ‘person of interest’ who allegedly killed Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University[/caption]
“That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. The FBI laboratory will be analysing this weapon.”
From there, investigators believe the killer slipped into a nearby residential neighborhood.
Despite a massive manhunt, officials admit they still “have no idea” who he is.
The suspect was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses, a t-shirt with the American flag and eagle, and a backpack. Authorities are urging the public to come forward with information.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox revealed more than 7,000 tips have poured in and over 200 interviews have been conducted.
“We cannot do our job without the public’s help right now,” he said, vowing prosecutors would seek the death penalty once the gunman is caught.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
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Timeline of Charlie Kirk shooting
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
11:52 am MDT – The shooter, described as a college-age individual, arrives on campus before maneuvering onto a rooftop.
12:00 pm – Charlie Kirk is scheduled to host a debate in the UVU Fountain Courtyard.
12:10 pm – A shot is fired at Kirk from 200 yards away and hits him in the neck. The event is immediately evacuated and a man is taken into custody.
1:02 pm – President Donald Trump posts a call to pray for Kirk on Truth Social.
1:37 pm – UVU closes campus, cancels classes, and tells students to leave campus immediately.
1:50 pm – Officials confirm Kirk is in critical condition to the Associated Press.
2:40 pm – Trump confirms Kirk has died, hailing him “great, legendary” in a post on Truth Social.
4:21 pm FBI Director Kash Patel shares on X that the ‘subject for the horrific shooting’ is in custody.
4:30 pm – Utah Governor Spencer Cox, speaking at a press conference, brands Kirk’s death a ‘political assassination. Cox adds there is a ‘person of interest’ in custody and a man arrested earlier has been released.
7:59 pm – Patel, the FBI director, confirmed a second subject taken into custody in connection with Kirk’s shooting was released after being interrogated by law enforcement.
September 11
7:15 am – Officials hold a press conference where they announce they have “good video” of the suspect and they recovered the “high-action bolt rifle” in the nearby woods.
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