This last week has been a hard one for the United States. With devastating news after devastating news, the country seems to be in a perpetual state of turmoil, grief, and uncertainty. United Families International was particularly stunned to hear about the appalling death of a fellow defender of the family: Charlie Kirk.
The loss of this valiant fighter who stood for many of the same things as UFI will be a loss that echoes for an immeasurable amount of time. But his legacy, hopes, and dreams for the future of America cannot–and should not–be discounted as ‘concluded’ simply because of his untimely demise. Alexis Tarkalson reminds us of Charlie’s pro-family and pro-life values and beliefs and how they can – and will – spread like a wildfire throughout not just America, but the entire world.
Honoring Charlie,
Wendy Wixom, President
United Families International
“Unmuted:” The Pro-Family Legacy of Charlie Kirk
by Alexis Tarkalson
Charlie Kirk made his name nationally recognizable by going from university to university setting up a table with a sign that said, “Prove Me Wrong”. He would then enter into debate with students on any political or social topic, such as: abortion, gun rights, gender ideology, foreign politics, etc. Often young students would wait hours just to ask him for advice on marriage, getting your life together, being a better man or woman, and so much more. He was a role model and cultural icon.
He founded Turning Point USA shortly after turning eighteen in 2012 (He decided to forgo college), which has now become one of the largest and most powerful conservative grassroots organizations for high school and college students. His platform has been a highly controversial one from the start.
As part of his 2025 American Comeback Tour, Charlie scheduled his first stop to be in Utah at the Utah Valley University (UVU) on September 10th. Immediately, blowback ensued, with petitions circulating to stop Charlie from being allowed to visit the campus. One such petition received close to one thousand signatures. He was then scheduled to return September 30th to visit Utah State University, and a petition to bar him from speaking there received over six thousand signatures.
Charlie even acknowledged that the response and backlash he was receiving from his announced appearances in Utah were stronger than the protests he received when attending more notably progressively left schools such as Berkely.
One featured comment on the UVU petition stated, “I’m queer and trans. After moving from a deep red state up to Utah, I feel safe at my school now for the first time in my life. UVU is meant to be a place where we are safe, and hate isn’t given a platform.”
UVU then released a statement regarding the increased panic concerning his visit and said, “As a public institution, UVU upholds First Amendment rights and fosters an environment where ideas — popular or controversial — can be exchanged freely, energetically, and civilly.”
The debate that happened on the tenth of September was anything but civil. Promptly at noon, in front of thousands, Charlie Kirk took his established seat behind his Prove Me Wrong table and began debating with the students who had lined up. Twenty four minutes later, a single shot rang out in the crowd and those attending witnessed Charlie fall to the ground, shot in the neck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and was announced dead by President Trump at 2:40 P.M.
Commemorating Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
United Families would like to pay tribute to the many ways in which Charlie gave his all towards protecting the family, the sanctity of life, the beauty of religion, and so much more.
Charlie told Deseret News, just before his UVU appearance and death, “My job every single day is actively trying to stop a revolution. This is where you have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That is the type of conservatism that I represent, and I’m trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting people up, not just staying angry.”
There is no doubt that Charlie Kirk, during his short thirty-one years of life, had a massive impact not only in the U.S. but in other parts of the world. He sought to bring young adults into the conversation, to motivate them to fight for freedom of speech and to engage in the American Dream. He especially is credited with mobilizing the younger generation into supporters for President Donald Trump, popularizing conservative ideals, and giving purpose and attention to young men in the U.S. who often feel forgotten and overlooked.
Charlie Kirk on the Family and Marriage
As a practitioner of what he preached, Charlie was married in 2021 to his beautiful, strong, and driven wife, Erika Kirk, and soon after they had two children. On the birth of his children he said, “When you look down in your arms and you see your child all of a sudden, everything that you’re fighting for, everything that you care about, everything that you are pushing forward gets into absolute clarity almost instantaneously.”
Not a week would go by where he would not promote marriage and family on his social media platforms or podcast. He was a steadfast believer in the power and beauty of the two institutions.
Just under two months ago he posted to X a video that has now been making rounds on social media since his death. It shows Charlie’s oldest daughter running to him on the set of Fox & Friends and giving him a loving hug. Accompanying the post was Charlie’s caption, “Get married, have kids, and stop partying into oblivion. Leave a legacy, be courageous. Happy Sunday God Bless all the parents out there”.
He mourned the mockery aimed towards marriage, especially among those of faith. He said in a Turning Point USA event where he and his wife shared the joys of settling down and starting a family, “I have said for a long time, we as Christians have done a crappy job of glorifying and celebrating marriage … marriage is the most awesome thing ever.”
Charlie then said at another point, “If we as conservatives stand for anything, it should be to tell our young people that one of the most beautiful things you can do is get married and have kids.”
His wife, Erika revealed, “Privately he told me, if he ever did run for office, that his top priority would be to revive the American family. That was his priority.”
Charlie Kirk on the Sanctity of Life
It was very common during his debates for him to field several questions regarding abortion, with each opponent seeking to finally bring down the great Charlie Kirk on the topic. But each time, he responded with all the ease of a pro baseball player. There was no question in his mind on the importance of protecting the most vulnerable and innocent among us. He said,
“Every human being, I believe, is made in the image of the Divine, is sacred, is unique. And if we get away from this principle as we have, we not only have moral degradation, we not only have the collapsing society around us, but it’s bad for that being itself. That being itself is unique. That being has rights. And who are we to say just because we’re older that we get to murder it?”
He never wavered on this point. In one of his podcasts he said emphatically, “Instead of ‘my body, my choice’, it should be ‘my family, my community, my church, my country’. Instead of ‘my body my choice’, it should be ‘my kids’. ‘Your body, your choice’ will end up having you miserable.”
He understood that there “is no such thing as an unwanted child”, and tried to reach his pro-choice opponents with that sentiment.
Charlie Kirk on Religion
In an interview earlier this year that, looking back on, is now ominous in its occurrence, Charlie was asked, “If everything completely goes away, how do you wanna be remembered?”
Charlie shot back, with a small smile on his face, “You mean if I die?”
The interviewer reiterated, “Everything goes away. How would you–if you could be associated with one thing, how would you want to be remembered?”
Charlie then responded instantaneously and with all humor gone, “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. Most important thing is my faith in my life.”
This was another value in his life that he never wavered on. Whenever an opportunity presented itself to spread his message about Christianity or the value of religion in general, he did so without any reservations.
In one notable debate, a student asked, “Are you a Christian by any chance?”
Charlie, “Very very much so.”
The student then asked, “Why is that exactly?”
Charlie responded, “Jesus saved my life. I’m a sinner, gave my life to Christ, most important decision I ever made.”
Just minutes before his assassination, he spent time acting as a witness of Christianity and sharing a testimony of his own personal religious beliefs.
It was also him who said, “The mechanisms of a religious society is good for everyone.”
Preserving His Legacy
Often Charlie would wear shirts with short, punchy slogans on them during his debates. One in particular caught my attention. It read, “Unmute yourself.”
If there was ever a time to unmute yourself, it is now. Charlie once said, “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity”.
And based on the reactions of grief, frustration, and disbelief from people around the world at his senseless killing, the silent majority just got a little less silent.
Erika Kirk said in her recent remarks after her husband’s death, “The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination have no idea what they have done. They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and of God’s merciful love. But they should all know this: if you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you have just unleashed across this entire country, and this world. You have no idea. You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battlecry. To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen. It will not die. All of us will refuse to let that happen…It will become stronger, bolder, louder, and greater than ever.”
Since Erika’s speech, Turning Point USA has received over 54,000 inquiries from people asking to start a chapter in their area. Around the world, people are mourning and protesting for freedom of speech in the name of Charlie. Places like Germany, Spain, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and more have turned out in astonishing numbers to take a stand.
I learned of the shooting only a few moments after it happened. A family member was attending the debate and called to alert my family once he was safely in his car. From those few minutes after, to now, I have obsessively searched for every scrap of news that came out on his condition, to his death, to the reactions of people around the world, to the manhunt for his killer. I have been sick about those celebrating his death, grieved by the bereavement his wife and children are experiencing, and most importantly, invigorated to be part of the movement Erika spoke of.
The values and beliefs Charlie Kirk advocated for will not die by the wayside because United Families International, and others like us, will not allow that to happen. The family unit, as the very foundation of society, will prevail, marriage will be strengthened, life will be celebrated as sacred, and religion will be the unifying force we desperately seek.
For Charlie, we will be better, do better, and seek better. We will be better for our children, we will do better for our communities, and we will seek better for a higher force than ourselves.
Alexis Tarkalson graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with her degree in Political Science and an emphasis in American Government. She loves spending time with her husband and little boy, reading, hiking mountains, and learning new hobbies. The family unit is immensely important to her, as is protecting the associated rights, which is why she volunteers her time towards United Families International.