Over 90,000 individuals came to Arizona to pay their respects to Charlie Kirk. In the middle of the ceremony, his wife Erika did one simple but very important deed.
But what did it imply when Erika held up her fingers?
Many people were moved by Erika’s dedication.
The memorial service for Charlie Kirk turned into a political event and a very sad goodbye. Erika Kirk, his widow, spoke to the entire stadium and made it quiet.
Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist and the face of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while giving a speech at Utah Valley University earlier this month. He left behind his wife Erika and their two young children.
Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people went to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the NFL’s Cardinals play, to pay their respects. People who came to pay their respects included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Elon Musk, and other MAGA leaders.
But Erika’s homage moved people.
Erika stood in front of the microphone at one point and pointed her left palm up to the sky. With a simple motion, she was stating “I love you” in American Sign Language.
Lingvano states that the sign for “I love you” is produced by extending the thumb, index finger, and pinky while pressing the middle and ring fingers against the palm. Erika pointed her hand up to send a message to her husband in heaven.
“I forgive him.”
She lovingly commented about the work he did:
“He didn’t mind leaving this world. He did everything he could every day. But I want you to know that Charlie died with work that wasn’t done, not business that wasn’t done.
Then the gathering was even more astonished when she revealed she had forgiven the man who was thought to have killed her husband, Tyler Robinson, who was 22 years old.
“I forgive him because that’s what Jesus did.” “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Erika sobbed and emphasized that Charlie’s goal will not end with him. She declared she will be the next CEO and chairwoman of Turning Point USA and committed to keep doing the work:
“The world needs a group that will show young people the proper way and save them from being immoral and unhappy. So, I promise you that all of our work will get better.
Trump has since announced that Kirk will earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom when he dies.
And in another interesting aspect, TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said that after working on Kirk, a physician told him that the bullet that killed him acted in a way that it shouldn’t have. The doctor called it a “miracle” that kept others behind him from getting hurt.