Comedy legend Tim Allen finally forgives man who killed his father, citing Erika Kirk as inspiration

“When Erika Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband: ‘That man… that young man… I forgive him.’ That moment deeply affected me. I have struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my Dad. I will say those words now as I type: ‘I forgive the man who killed my father.’” Allen posted on X.

Allen’s statement came after Erika Kirk addressed tens of thousands of mourners gathered at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday. Her husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, was assassinated earlier in September.

“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West. The young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith, and no reason to live,” Erika said during her eulogy. “The men wasting their lives on distractions and the men consumed with resentment, anger, and hate. Charlie wanted to help them. He wanted them to have a home with Turning Point USA.”

She said to the crowd that her husband’s outreach on college campuses was fueled by his mission to show young men “a better path and a better life.”

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life. That young man. That young man.”

Erika said, “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 is what Charlie would do.”

She closed her remarks with a message of faith: “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.”