Charlie Kirk’s widow held a rosary in her hand as she waved to supporters from the backseat of an SUV while escorting her husband’s body to a chapel in Arizona on Thursday evening.
Erika Frantzve fought back tears behind a pair of sunglasses as a throng of people waving American flags greeted the motorcade outside Phoenix’s Hansen Mortuary Chapel.
The 31-year-old conservative activist was flown to Arizona aboard Air Force Two.
Kirk was hit in the neck by a single shot fired by a sniper atop the Losee Center, a building on the Utah Valley University campus, about 200 yards from where he was speaking to thousands as he kicked off his multi-city American Comeback Tour.
Vice President JD Vance arranged for the flight after Wednesday’s assassination and chose to be at the heartbroken widow’s side following her husband’s death.
Vance canceled plans to attend a 9/11 commemoration at Ground Zero in Manhattan, opting to travel to Utah with his wife, second lady Usha Vance, to be with Kirk’s family.
Kirk’s wife and parents were in Utah for the event when he was killed.
Frantzve and Usha Vance stepped off Air Force Two hand in hand as they descended the stairs to the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to watch the wooden casket be transferred to a hearse for the 10-mile drive to the chapel.
Earlier in the day, the 41-year-old vice president helped carry Kirk’s wooden casket to Air Force Two during a private ceremony at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Frantzve and Usha Vance stood to the side as Kirk’s casket was placed on the plane.
Vance called Kirk a friend in a touching tribute on X hours after the Turning Point USA founder’s death.
“Charlie was constantly calling and texting, checking on our family and offering guidance and prayers,” Vance said. “After every event, he would give me a big hug, tell me he was praying for me, and ask me what he could do.”
