Memorial service for slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale
Credit: Reuters Photo
Days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed while participating in an open debate at Utah Valley University, his widowed wife Erika Kirk said she "forgives" the killer.
As per a report by NPR, Erika while wiping off tears said that she forgives him as "the answer to hate is not hate". She was speaking at Kirk's memorial at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
"I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do," she said while adding, "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 then described the moment when she saw Kirk at the hospital in Utah after he was shot. She "felt shock' after seeing the wound that killed him and recounted how Kirk "had the faintest smile on his lips".
"It told me Charlie did not suffer," Erika said.
"We didn't see violence, we didn't see riots. We didn't see revolution. Instead we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country: We saw revival. We saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade, she added, as reported by te publication.
Trump 'dances' on stage after homage at memorial
At the memorial, US President Donald Trump delivered a speech and said the attack on Kirk was "an attack on our entire nation".
A video of Trump's 'dance' is making the rounds online. The president could be seen making some of his signature dance moves as Erika stood beside him, teary-eyed.
Utah prosecutors earlier said they will seek the death penalty for the suspect in Charlie Kirk's assassination and revealed some of the evidence against him, including alleged text messages in which he appeared to confess to the crime.
Tyler Robinson, 22, is accused of firing the single rifle shot from a rooftop sniper's nest that pierced Kirk's neck on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.
(With Reuters inputs)