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Christian apologist and author Frank Turek was just feet away when Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University. In a new podcast episode, he recounted the Sept. 10 shooting and the frantic rush to the hospital where doctors pronounced the 31-year-old dead.
Kirk first reached out to Turek years ago for mentorship in Christian apologetics, Turek said in the podcast titled “The Greatness of Charlie Kirk: An Eyewitness Account of His Life and Martyrdom.”
Their relationship blossomed, with Turek saying he came to consider Kirk a son.
On the morning of the event, Turek joined Kirk’s team on the car ride to Utah Valley University, discussing potential student questions and fine-tuning answers.
After making a quick stop to speak to a local entrepreneur group, the team arrived at the outdoor venue and Kirk began taking photos with supporters and tossing hats into the large, energetic crowd.
Though Turek told Kirk he was concerned about the large number of nearby buildings and the safety risk they could pose, he said Kirk seemed confident in his private security and the local police detail.
Eager to share the excitement, Turek FaceTimed family members as he stood about 30 feet to Kirk’s right. He explained that during a question about transgender violence, he heard a single shot and watched as Kirk fell backward.
“I’m still on the phone, and my daughter-in-law told me these were the first words out of my mouth, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’ … If your son got hit, what would you do … I got in the car because if there was any way I could save him, I had to do something.”
Turek and the security team jumped into the SUV that they used to travel to the event, and sped to the hospital while performing CPR and reciting prayers.
“And Charlie’s so tall, we can’t close the door,” he said. “We drove four miles… all the way to the hospital with the door open.”
Turek said he kept yelling: “Come on, Charlie! Come on! Come on!”
Turek said as they frantically raced to the hospital he realized Kirk was gone.
“Charlie wasn’t there,” Turek said through tears. “His eyes were fixed. He wasn’t looking at me, he was looking past me right into eternity. He was with Jesus already. He was killed instantly and felt absolutely no pain.”
Turek said despite their best efforts, there was nothing they could do to save Kirk.
“If that’s any comfort at all, Charlie didn’t suffer,” he said. “He was gone. He was with Jesus. Absent from the body – present with the Lord. That’s where he was.”
Doctors briefly restored Kirk’s pulse at the hospital, but a surgeon pronounced Kirk dead within half an hour, according to Turek.
Hospital staff described Kirk’s injuries as “catastrophic,” he said.
The Turning Point USA team immediately contacted Kirk’s wife, Erika, and sent a plane to get her, Turek said. They also called Vice President JD Vance.
When Erika arrived at the hospital, Turek said she vowed to continue his legacy, even taking a moment to reassure him amid her own anguish.
“She said, ‘He loved you, and he was doing what he wanted to do,’” Turek said. “Then we just held one another, and she expressed that she wanted to keep Charlie’s legacy going. … That woman is not going to be denied. If this assassin thought that he was going to end Charlie’s legacy, he just poured gasoline on it and Erika is going to lead the charge.”
The group did not have access to the SUV they traveled in, or their personal items, due to an initial police investigation. However, when the vehicle was cleared, Turek said Erika asked for her husband’s cross necklace, which went missing during the rush.
Turek found the cross draped over his own computer bag, which Kirk was lying on as the team drove him to the hospital.
Erika would later hold up the necklace in a heartbreaking photo taken as she escorted his body to a chapel in Arizona.
Throughout the podcast episode, Turek described Kirk as a fearless, relentlessly Christ-centered leader.
He highlighted Kirk’s humility, discipline, and devotion to family, pushing back on critics who he said “twisted” some of Kirk’s more controversial remarks.
Turek added, in one of his final texts the day before he was killed, Kirk sent him the Bible verse 1 Corinthians 16:9: “A wide door for effective work has opened up to me, and there are many adversaries.”
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