BREAKING: Erika Kirk vows to continue Charlie Kirk's mission — 'The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battlecry'

Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk addressed the nation and the world on Friday evening, just days after her husband was brutally assassinated while speaking to students at Utah Valley University. Speaking from the studio where her husband broadcast his daily radio show and podcast, standing next to his empty chair, she praised him, professed her love for him, declared their faith in Jesus Christ, and vowed to continue his mission with Turning Point USA.

Mrs. Kirk thanked law enforcement for working "tirelessly to capture" her husband's "assassin so that he can be brought to justice."

"I want to thank the first responders who struggled heroically—heroically—to save Charlies' life and the police who acted bravely to make sure that there were no other victims on that terrible afternoon," she said. She offered gratitude to the officers who have given protection to the family and to staff at Turning Point USA, the company Kirk founded to uplift the young people of America.

"I want to thank the millions of people who have shown their love for Charlie, here in Phoenix, across America and worldwide. I want to thank my husband's dear friend, Vice President Vance and his phenomenal wife, Usha, for their love and support. You guys honored my husband so well, bringing him home. You both are tremendous. I want to thank President Trump and his incredible family for the same," she said. "Mr. President, my husband loved you and he knew that you loved him too."
 

But what Mrs. Kirk offered were not just thanks to those who loved her husband, to those he loved, but a battle cry for the organization she inherits, the nation, and the world. Kirk was killed while speaking to students as part of a college tour and it appeared in the aftermath that the remainder of the college tour—Utah Valley was the first stop—would be canceled. But Mrs. Kirk said that the college tour would continue. It was too important to her husband, to TPUSA, to her and to America to have it crash to an end due to the senseless act of violence.

"They killed Charlie because he preached," she said, "a message of patriotism, faith and of God's merciful love. They should all know this. 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, in this world. You have no idea. 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.

"To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won't. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die. All of us will refuse to let that happen. No one will ever forget my husband's name and I will make sure of it.

"It will become stronger, bolder, louder and greater than ever.

"My husband's mission will not end, not even for a moment," she said. "And one of Charlie's greatest talents was his ability, this phenomenal ability to choose great people to follow him. He could always find the ones who could handle any setback, and it's almost like he knew. He just he could see it in you, even when you couldn't see it in yourself. He just knew, he knew you could handle it. You thought you only had 5% left, and he knew you had 15 he knew you were ready to go that extra mile, even when you didn't. He always challenged people around him to work harder and to be better. He never gave up. And I love knowing that one of his, one of his mottos, was never surrender. 

"So I want to tell you that that will never surrender. We never will ever."

She said that America Fest in Phoenix, the annual gathering, will go on and "will be greater than ever." So too will his radio show and podcast continue. "In a world filled with chaos, doubt and uncertainty, my husband's voice will remain and it will ring out louder and more clearly than ever."

"He was the perfect husband," she said. "Charlie always believed that God's design for marriage in the family was absolutely amazing. And it is. It was the greatest joy of his life. And over and over, he would tell all these young poeple to come and find their future spouse, become wives and husbands and parents. And the reason why is that because he wanted you all to experience what he had, and still has. He wanted everyone to bring heaven into this earth though love and joy that comes from raising a family."

She spoke for about 15 minutes, holding her rosary, and through her grief, her powerful faith shone through, along with her determination.