Charlie Kirk's widow has delivered her first public remarks since the fatal shooting of her influencer husband at a university in Utah on Thursday.
Speaking from the office where Mr Kirk hosted his podcast, Erika Kirk said her husband loved America, nature and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
"But most of all, Charlie loved his children and he loved me with all of his heart," Ms Kirk said.
She had a pointed message for "the evildoers responsible for my husband's assassination", though she did not specifically name the alleged shooter Tyler Robinson, who law enforcement officials believe acted alone.
"You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife," Ms Kirk said.
"The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry."
She thanked Donald Trump, saying through tears that her husband loved the US president, and vowed to keep her husband's work alive, continuing his campus tour, radio show, and podcast.
Mr Kirk was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party and an influential conservative voice among younger Americans.
The suspect, identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was taken into custody on Thursday night local time, after his family notified police that Mr Robinson had "implied that he had committed" the murder, police said.
Security camera images, some previously released to the public, and evidence gathered from the suspect's profile on the chat and streaming platform Discord also helped investigators link him to the crime, Utah Governor Spencer Cox said.
The suspect has not yet been formally charged, but an affidavit shows he was arrested for aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, and obstruction of justice.
Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray told the ABC he planned to file formal charges next Tuesday.
'The movement built by my husband will not die'
Mr Kirk, 31, was a close ally of US President Donald Trump and helped build Republican support among young voters during his election campaign last year.
The 31-year-old was killed by a single gunshot fired from a rooftop as he spoke onstage during an outdoor campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem attended by 3,000 people.
His death has seen US leaders from both sides of the political spectrum react with sorrow and frustration over the latest outbreak of political violence sweeping America.
The US president called the shooting a "heinous assassination".
"I hope he (Mr Robinson) gets the death penalty," Mr Trump told Fox News.
Mr Kirk's casket was taken to his home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two on Thursday night local time, with Vice-President JD Vance on board to honour the late activist.
Mr Vance helped carry Mr Kirk's casket with a group of uniformed service members as it was loaded onto the plane.
On Wednesday night, the vice-president wrote on social media that his relationship with Mr Kirk began several years ago after he appeared on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News.
Mr Kirk reached out to compliment him, "and that moment of kindness began a friendship", Mr Vance said, adding that he was "a true friend".
Mr Kirk was the co-founder and CEO of the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA, based in Phoenix.
"The movement built by my husband will not die," his widow Erika said in her message on Friday evening.
Hundreds of people attended a vigil held for Mr Kirk at Sydney's Hyde Park on Friday, with speakers paying their tributes and expressing sadness at the assassination.
The US has been experiencing its most sustained period of political violence in decades.
Reuters has documented more than 300 cases of politically motivated violent acts across the ideological spectrum since supporters of Mr Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Mr Trump himself has survived two attempts on his life, one that left him with a grazed ear during a campaign event in July 2024 and another two months later foiled by federal agents.
The Utah governor declined to discuss possible motives for Mr Kirk's killing but authorities have described it as a political assassination.
ABC/wires
