"The answer to hate is not hate": Charlie Kirk's wife forgave his killer Tyler Robinson in moving speech

Activist Charlie Kirk's wife, Erika, said Sunday at her husband's memorial service that she forgave his killer, Tyler Robinson, amid an emotional speech in which she also spoke about the future of the Turning Point USA organization and the importance of family. Amid applause, Erika Kirk said she made the decision to forgive the 22-year-old who shot Charlie last Sept. 10 because that's what Christ did and because that's what her husband would have done.

My husband, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man, that young man. On the cross, our savior said: ‘Father, forgive them for they not know what they do.’ That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and it is 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,” Erika Kirk said at the memorial service for her husband in Arizona.

On the future of Turning Point USA.

Elsewhere in her speech, Erika Kirk publicly pledged to continue her husband's work as the new executive director of Turning Point USA. “I do not take that lightly. Charlie and I were united in purpose. His passion was my passion, and now his mission is my mission. Everything that Turning Point USA built through Charlie’s vision and hard work, we will make 10 times greater through the power of his memory. Chapters will grow. Thousands of new ones will be created. TPUSA Faith will add 1000s of new pastors and congregations. Yes, campus events will continue, and we will continue to hold debates and dialogue," Erika Kirk noted.

During her speech, she also spoke about her marriage to Charlie Kirk, noting that one of her main goals was to revive the American family, and revealing details about their relationship. "“The greatest cause in Charlie’s life was trying to revive the American family. When he spoke to young people, he was always eager to tell them about God’s vision for marriage and how if they could just dare to live it out, it would enrich every part of their life in the same way that it enriched ours. And someone once asked me how Charlie and I how we kept our marriage so strong when he was busy traveling. Our little secret, it was love notes. Every Saturday, Charlie wrote one for me, and he never missed a Saturday. And in every single one of them, he’d tell me what his highlight was for the week, how grateful he was for me and our babies," Erika Kirk said.