Featured Image Credit: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk, Politics, US News, Crime, Mental Health
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Charlie Kirk, Erika Kirk, Politics, US News, Crime, Mental Health
Charlie Kirk's widow has insisted American doesn't have a 'gun problem'.
For those in need of a reminder, the right-wing activist was fatally shot back in September at a Republican rally he hosted at Utah Valley University.
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected shooter, is believed to have fired a single bullet at 31-year-old Kirk in the presence of 3,000 spectators, including his wife Erika, with whom he shared a three-year-old daughter, and a son, one.
Despite the heartache that she and her children have endured in the wake of Kirk's death, his widow doesn't believe that guns should take any element of the blame.
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Instead, appearing at the The New York Times' Dealbook Conference on Wednesday (3 December), she hit out at Robinson's state of mind, as well as divisive politics in general.
"What I’ve realised through all of this is that you can have individuals that will always resort to violence," the mother-of-two explained. "And what I’m afraid of is that we are living in a day and age where they think violence is the solution to them not wanting to hear a different point of view."
Erika went on to insist: "That’s not a gun problem, that’s a human, deeply human, problem. That is a soul problem, that is a mental… that is a very deeper issue."
Reported messages between Robinson and his roommate provided prosecutors with an insight into why he might have been motivated to murder one of Republican leader Donald Trump's closest allies.
"I had enough of his hatred," he'd told them. "Some hate can't be negotiated out."
The suspect's mother also told police in the days after his arrest that Robinson had become 'more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented', with his roommate supposedly having been transgender.
"I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it," he also allegedly told the latter in another message.
Going one step further, the new Turning Point USA founder, who, like Kirk, bears a series of severely conservative, Christian views, also reiterated that she's still an avid supporter of the Second Amendment. As a reminder, this element of the US Constitution protects the right for Americans to possess weapons for the protection of themselves, their rights, and their property.
"I wouldn’t wish upon anyone what I have been through, and I support the Second Amendment as well," Erika went on.
The widow previously shocked her even her most severely right-wing followers, by claiming she'd already forgiven Kirk's alleged killer just 11 days after the gruesome assassination took place.
"I don’t expect everyone to understand," she said of this decision. "It’s not because you’re weak, it’s not because you think what the assassin did was correct. That’s the exact opposite.
"Forgiveness is… for those of you who’ve been wronged, you know what it feels like to forgive someone."
Erika continued: "And in a way, where it frees you from a poison, and it frees you to be able to think clearly and have a moment where your heart is free and you’re not bound to evil."