Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailCharlie Kirk, the MAGA activist and Turning Point USA founder who was shot dead on Wednesday, is survived by his wife Erika and two young children. Kirk, 31, was speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday afternoon when he was shot in the neck by a sniper positioned on a nearby rooftop. He was rushed to the hospital but died shortly afterwards. The manhunt for the gunman continues. President Donald Trump led the tributes to Kirk, a hugely influential conservative voice, saying: “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.” He has since announced he will award the slain activists a posthumous Medal of Freedom.open image in galleryCharlie Kirk with his wife, Erika Kirk, celebrating Trump’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., in January (Getty)Kirk was born in Chicago’s Arlington Heights section on October 14, 1993, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights, the son of architect Robert W Kirk, who was involved in the construction of Trump Tower in Manhattan. His mother was a trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange who later worked as a mental health counselor.Amid his rapid rise in popularity in right-wing political circles, Kirk began dating fellow evangelical Christian Erika Lane Frantzve, 36, winner of the 2012 Miss Arizona USA pageant and a political science graduate from Arizona State University, after meeting her in New York City in 2018. They became engaged the following December and were married in May 2021 in her native Scottsdale. According to her official website, Frantzve was crowned Miss Arizona USA in 2012, a pageant once owned by President Trump, and is now studying for her doctorate in Biblical studies at Liberty University. She is known for founding Everyday Heroes Like You, a non-profit supporting under-recognized charities, for hosting the Midweek Rise Up podcast, for running the BIBLE365 ministry program, and PROCLAIM, an accompanying faith-driven clothing brand.On her LinkedIn page, Frantzve says that she is a real estate agent with The Corcoran Group in New York City, although it’s unclear when that profile was last updated. The couple recently celebrated the seventh anniversary of their first date together. Frantzve revealed in a September 2023 Instagram post that she and Kirk went on their first date in New York City in 2018. “5 years ago today, we sat inside Bills Burgers in NYC deep in conversation and banter over theology, philosophy, and politics, and at the end, you paused, looked at me, and said, ‘I’m going to date you.” open image in galleryThe Kirks have two small children, aged three and one (Getty)In a 2024 video on Turning Point USA’s YouTube channel, Kirk said that after their “very, very long dinner,” he knew “almost immediately” that Frantzve was “the one.” Kirk proposed in December 2020, and they wed six months later on May 8, 2021. Their wedding was later described by the bride as being “very intimate,” with no bridesmaids or groomsmen, only close friends and family. The couple has two young children: a daughter born in August 2022 and a son born in May 2024.This past April, Frantzve appeared on an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show where she discussed the pair’s relationship. “Keep your faith, obviously first, and try to identify any fleshy problems that you might be having… You have to continually invest in the confidence in one another, that you’re on the same team. You support each other. You love each other. You’re not going to undercut each other. You’re not going to undercut each other,” she said. Meanwhile, on her Instagram page, Frantzve regularly posted about her husband and family life. “My husband Charlie Kirk is a force. He is bold when the world demands silence, he is fearless where others flinch, and he has taken on the battle of the next generation, changing these hearts and minds,” she said in one video. open image in galleryKirk, 31, was speaking on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday afternoon when he was shot in the neck by a sniper positioned on a nearby rooftop (AFP via Getty Images)The family was reportedly present on the Utah campus on Wednesday when the tragedy unfolded, and it subsequently emerged that Erika had shared a Bible verse about seeking help during difficult times just hours before she lost her husband.“Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” her post read.An Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, Kirk first became interested in politics while studying at Wheeling High School when he volunteered to help Illinois Republican Mark Kirk (no relation) in his successful 2010 run for the U.S. Senate. Unlike many Chicagoans, the teen rejected the rise of local hero Barack Obama and expressed an admiration for Ronald Reagan instead.As a senior, Kirk spearheaded a campaign to reverse an increase in the price of cookies being sold in the school cafeteria. But he made a much bigger splash soon after when he wrote an article for Breitbart alleging a liberal bias in high school textbooks, which led to an invitation to appear on Fox News to discuss the piece.After being turned away from West Point and dropping out of Chicago’s Harper College, he found a mentor in Bill Montgomery, 71, a Tea Party-backed legislative candidate and businessman, who encouraged him to commit to full-time conservative activism. Kirk subsequently founded Turning Point in 2012, an organization dedicated to promoting conservative values on campus, beginning his rise to national prominence as the face of young Republicanism in the emerging Trump era, a position he cemented with regular appearances in public, on right-wing media and, eventually, his own podcast.
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Charlie Kirk’s family: What we know about late right-wing influencer’s wife and kids
