The grieving parents of slain MAGA firebrand Charlie Kirk clung to each other in anguish as they came face-to-face with their son’s mahogany coffin on Thursday.
The emotional scene followed a solemn ceremony in Salt Lake City, where Kirk’s casket was carried off a hearse with the aid of Vice President JD Vance.
Vance then led members of the National Guard in carrying the coffin up the steps of Air Force Two at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base.
The plane will transport Kirk’s body back to his home state of Arizona, accompanied by his mourning wife, their two young children, and his parents – who stood visibly heartbroken as they watched the honors unfold.
The powerful tribute came just one day after the conservative activist was assassinated during a rally at Utah Valley University.
A funeral is now planned for next week, which President Donald Trump said he will attend. He added that he has spoken with Kirk’s wife, Erika, and said she is ‘devastated, absolutely devastated.’
Kirk was best known for his debates with students at events such as the one he was holding at UVU, where he sparred with young liberals on issues such as abortion and gun control.
He held the events through his organization Turning Point USA, which Kirk co-founded with his mentor Bill Montgomery.
Assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk rose to prominence through his organization Turning Point USA, which he co-founded with his mentor Bill Montgomery (seen together)
Kirk, seen moments before he was shot, was assassinated Wednesday on the UVU campus in Orem, Utah as he held a Turning Point USA event
Montgomery died in July 2020 aged 80 due to complications from Covid-19, eight years after starting the conservative action group with Kirk.
He met Kirk when the young debater was just 18 after hearing him speak at a college event, and has often been described as his mentor who guided Kirk into the political world.
Montgomery provided funding for Turning Point USA to get off the ground, and reportedly advised Kirk to skip college and dedicate himself to making the organization one of the most influential in the nation.
Before Kirk became one of the best known conservatives in America and his celebrity grew as a key ally of Donald Trump, his family also had a surprising connection to the future president.
Kirk’s father Robert Kirk worked in the construction business and owned his own architecture firm, and his resume included work as a project architect manager on Trump Tower in Manhattan, reports PrimeTimer.
Kirk’s father was not an outspoken public figure like his son would become, but he rose to prominence in the construction world through an array of high-profile building projects.
As well as working on Trump Tower, his other properties included the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
It is not known if the elder Kirk ever personally met with Trump during the president’s real estate days, which would have been decades before Charlie became one of his closest allies.
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Kirk has never shared images of his parents, but has shared pictures of his grandmother celebrating Cubs baseball matches in 2015
The influencer has also shared an image in 2014 celebrating his sister Mary’s high school graduation
Montgomery said he met Kirk soon after the teenager began his political efforts in April 2012, and he provided the seed money to start up Turning Point USA
Charlie Kirk lived in Arizona with his wife Erika and two children, with public records showing they lived in a $5.2 million mansion in Arizona.
Little is known about much of Kirk’s family and they keep a low public profile, including Kirk’s mother Kimberly Ann, who was reportedly a mental health counselor.
Kirk has never shared images of his parents, but has shared pictures of his grandmother celebrating Cubs baseball matches in 2015.
The influencer has also shared an image in 2014 celebrating his sister Mary’s high school graduation, before she went on to become an art curator in Illinois.
In a profile about Kirk in the Chicago Tribune in 2018, it was said that Kirk had once described his parents as Republicans, ‘but not particularly ardent ones.’
Kirk said that his political awakening was not fueled by his parents, but instead came during his high school days after he got into an argument with a teacher about George W. Bush.
‘I remember a class … and (the teacher) was such a militant leftist and socialist, he would put me so on the spot for being a conservative, for being a Republican,’ Kirk recalled.
‘He would say, ‘Socialism is great. We need free health care, free housing.’ He was so aggressive about it.’
Kirk seen with his sister and family members in 2012
Kirk, pictured in 2010, began his political efforts as a teenager and set up a group called SOS Liberty, where he began creating YouTube videos espousing conservative values
President Trump led tributes to Kirk after he was fatally shot at the event on Wednesday
His mentor Montgomery said he met Kirk soon after the teenager began his political efforts in April 2012, when Kirk set up a group called SOS Liberty and made YouTube videos espousing conservative values.
Following Kirk’s shooting on Wednesday, it was Trump who delivered the news that the 31-year-old activist was dead.
‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,’ Trump posted at 4:40 p.m, around three hours after the shooting.
‘No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.’
‘Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’ the president said.
Trump then ordered the flags lowered – with all three American flags at the White House dropped to half-staff.
The president had urged the country to pray for Kirk shortly after the Turning Point USA leader was shot in the neck by an unknown gunman while he was engaging in Q&A with students at the Turning Point USA event.
‘We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!’ Trump said on Truth Social.
