The grieving parents of slain MAGA firebrand Charlie Kirk clung to each other in anguish as they came face-to-face with their son’s mahogany coffin on Thursday.

The emotional scene followed a solemn ceremony in Salt Lake City, where Kirk’s casket was carried off a hearse with the aid of Vice President JD Vance.

Vance then led members of the National Guard in carrying the coffin up the steps of Air Force Two at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base.

The plane will transport Kirk’s body back to his home state of Arizona, accompanied by his mourning wife, their two young children, and his parents – who stood visibly heartbroken as they watched the honors unfold.

The powerful tribute came just one day after the conservative activist was assassinated during a rally at Utah Valley University.

A funeral is now planned for next week, which President Donald Trump said he will attend. He added that he has spoken with Kirk’s wife, Erika, and said she is ‘devastated, absolutely devastated.’

Kirk was best known for his debates with students at events such as the one he was holding at UVU, where he sparred with young liberals on issues such as abortion and gun control.

He held the events through his organization Turning Point USA, which Kirk co-founded with his mentor Bill Montgomery.

Assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk rose to prominence through his organization Turning Point USA, which he co-founded with his mentor Bill Montgomery (seen together)

Kirk, seen moments before he was shot, was assassinated Wednesday on the UVU campus in Orem, Utah as he held a Turning Point USA event Â

“We Don’t Know How to Breathe Without You”: Charlie Kirk’s Parents Break Down at His Memorial as Mother Leaves Heartbreaking Letter

On August 23, 2022, Charlie Kirk’s parents stood at the threshold of joy. Their son and his wife, Erika, had just welcomed their first child — a moment that transformed them into grandparents for the very first time. Family photos from that week captured smiles that stretched ear to ear: a proud father holding the newborn, a beaming mother cradling her grandchild as if the world had just become whole.

But less than three years later, that joy has been replaced by a grief so heavy it seems unbearable. Their son, once the source of pride and promise, is now gone — his life cut short in an act of political violence that has stunned the nation. For Kirk’s parents, the roles they once embraced with happiness — mother, father, grandparents — are now bound to an unshakable sorrow.

A Scene of Pure Grief

Kirk has never shared images of his parents, but has shared pictures of his grandmother celebrating Cubs baseball matches in 2015

At the memorial site erected in Charlie’s honor, the atmosphere was heavy with silence, broken only by the sounds of quiet weeping. Candles flickered against the evening breeze, flowers piled high at the base of a temporary shrine. And then, through the gathered mourners, came Kirk’s parents.

Witnesses say the moment they arrived was almost too painful to watch. His mother collapsed onto her husband’s shoulder, sobbing so hard her body trembled. His father wrapped his arms around her, his own eyes glistening with tears. Together they leaned into each other — fragile, broken, yet clinging to one another as though it was the only way they could remain upright.

“It was raw, unfiltered grief,” said one mourner. “You could feel it in your chest. It wasn’t just sadness. It was like watching two people trying to hold each other up while their world crumbled beneath them.”

The Letter That Stopped Everyone Cold

The influencer has also shared an image in 2014 celebrating his sister Mary’s high school graduation

But what has since captured hearts far beyond that small circle of mourners was not just the sight of two devastated parents — it was the letter Kirk’s mother left behind.

Folded and carefully placed among the flowers, the note was written in shaky, uneven lines. Someone close to the family quietly read it aloud, and within hours, the words had spread across social media:

“You made me a mother, you made us grandparents, and now you leave us broken. I don’t know how to breathe without you. I promise your little one will always know who you were — not just in headlines, but in the way you laughed, the way you cared, the way you loved.”

For those who witnessed it, the letter wasn’t just a message to her son. It was a mother’s cry, a confession of helplessness, and a vow of remembrance all at once. One mourner described it as “the most human thing I’ve ever seen… she wasn’t thinking about the cameras, about the politics, about anything except her child.”

A Family Torn, A Nation Watching

Kirk seen with his sister and family members in 2012

The tragedy has turned into a mirror for America’s wider divisions. For years, Kirk’s name was tied to sharp political battles, his voice amplified in debates that often polarized. Yet in this moment of mourning, there was no ideology — only loss.

And that, observers say, is what has struck people most deeply. “Behind every headline, behind every soundbite, there’s a family,” wrote one social media user after the letter circulated online. “And right now, a mother and father are standing in front of the world saying they don’t know how to breathe without their son.”

The scene at the memorial has since been replayed countless times: the mother collapsing, the father holding her, the letter trembling in her hands before she set it down. For many, it has become one of the most haunting symbols of the cost of political violence.

Clinging to What Remains

Kirk, pictured in 2010, began his political efforts as a teenager and set up a group called SOS Liberty, where he began creating YouTube videos espousing conservative values

In the midst of unbearable pain, the only anchor for Kirk’s parents is their grandchild — the child who made them grandparents less than three years ago. Friends close to the family say the couple has promised to pour all their remaining strength into making sure the little one knows who his father truly was.

“They want him to grow up knowing Charlie not as a headline, but as a man who laughed loudly, loved deeply, and left behind a family who adored him,” said one friend.

President Trump led tributes to Kirk after he was fatally shot at the event on Wednesday

As the candles burned lower and the crowd began to disperse, Kirk’s parents stayed at the site, still leaning on one another, whispering through tears. They left hand in hand, but not before turning back for one last look at the mountain of flowers and the letter that had already traveled far beyond that small memorial.

For those who witnessed it, the moment was unforgettable — two parents torn apart by tragedy, yet bound by love and memory. Their grief may never fade, but their letter ensures that Charlie’s story will not end in silence.