Usha Vance held hands with Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika in a heartfelt gesture as they deplaned Air Force Two, which carried the right-wing influencer’s casket from Utah to Arizona.
Usha and Erika were dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses as they somberly walked off the aircraft with JD Vance trailing behind.
Erika, 36, kept her gaze down as she stepped off the aircraft, as Usha put her arm around the grieving mother-of-two, seemingly to guide her down the stairs.
The Second Lady then pointed into the distance before moving her hand to meet Erika’s.
Hand-in-hand, the two slowly trekked to the ground, marking the conclusion of Kirk’s final plane ride back to his home state of Arizona.
Kirk’s two young children and parents – who witnessed their loved one get murdered – were also on board the flight.
National Guard members were seen carrying Kirk’s mahogany coffin on and off the plane.
A funeral is now planned for next week, which President Donald Trump said he will attend.
Usha and Erika were dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses as they somberly walked off the aircraft with JD Vance trailing behind
Kirk helped found Turning Point USA (pictured: Kirk and his wife Erika Frantzve)
National Guard members were seen carrying Kirk’s mahogany coffin on and off the plane
He added that he has spoken with Kirk’s wife, Erika, and said she is ‘devastated, absolutely devastated.’
Vance has also shared a powerful tribute, describing Kirk as a ‘true friend’ – the ‘kind of guy you could say something to and know it would always stay with him.’
Kirk, 31, was killed when a single bullet struck his neck as he addressed the more than 3,000 people in the crowd at a UVU rally on Wednesday afternoon.
Gunfire rang through the crowd as Kirk was mid-sentence, responding to a prompt about mass shootings.
Authorities suspect the fatal shot came from the top of the Losee Center of the Orem campus, about 200 feet away from where Kirk was sitting underneath a tent.
Blood poured from his neck as terror ensued among the audience members, who were seen frantically fleeing the gory scene.
Federal and local authorities are continuing to search for the suspect. They have released photos of a man they have identified as a ‘person of interest’ in the shooting.
Erika, 36, kept her gaze down as she stepped off the aircraft, as Usha put her arm around the grieving mother-of-two, seemingly to guide her down the stairs
Hand-in-hand, the two slowly trekked to the ground, marking the conclusion of Kirk’s final plane ride back to his home state of Arizona
After the gun shot rang, panic ensued among the masses, causing them to flee the scene
The man appeared to have a slim build and was seen wearing a snapback with sunglasses, long pants, and a long-sleeved top.
His long-sleeved top appears to bear a patriotic logo of the bald eagle flying across an American flag, reading ‘Land of the Free… Home of the Brave’.
Little is known about the suspect. Utah DPS Commissioner Beau Mason said they ‘appear to be of college age.’
Mason said the gunman ‘blended in well with the college institution’ before adding: ‘We’re not releasing many details right now. We will soon. But right now, we’re not.’
On Thursday night, security footage shared shows the suspect leaping from the roof of a building and fleeing.
The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of whoever is responsible for Kirk’s death.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said more than 200 people have been interviewed as part of the thorough investigation.
Investigators have recovered chilling evidence in their search for the culprit, including bullets from a Mauser rifle which had been ‘engraved with transgender and antifascist ideology’, according to a memo seen by the Wall Street Journal.
The Second Lady then pointed into the distance before moving her hand to meet Erika’s
Us Air Force members load Kirk’s casket onto Air Force Two
The conservative activist, 31, was assassinated while taking questions from the crowd at the Orem college
Sources told the outlet that the weapon was wrapped up in a towel, with a spent cartridge in the chamber.
Another three unspent rounds were discovered in the magazine, all of which contained messages on them. The exact words used have not been disclosed.
A bolt-action rifle was also found in a wooded area near the campus. Investigators believe this was the murder weapon.
While the FBI has not declared a possible motive for the shooting, Trump told reporters he had an idea of what drove the culprit to kill.
‘We’ll let you know about that later,’ Trump said, adding authorities are making ‘big progress.’
Cox previously denounced the act of violence against Kirk and deemed the harrowing event politically motivated.
‘I just want to remind people that we still have the death penalty here in the state of Utah,’ Cox warned during a Wednesday press conference.
While people across the political aisle have shared tributes to Kirk, who was a strong ally to the MAGA movement, his death has also amplified tensions between the parties.
The FBI has released images of a person of interest (shown above) in Kirk’s assassination as they asked the public for help identifying them
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika Frantzve, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months
President Trump (left) led tributes to Kirk (right) after he was fatally shot in the neck Wednesday
Trump has pinned the assassination on the ‘radical left’ in a Truth Social post.
‘For years, those on the radical Left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals,’ he wrote.
‘This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today and it must stop right now.’
The president has led extensive efforts to honor Kirk, who devoted his livelihood to spreading conservative values among young adults.
Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA, a conservative group present on college campuses across the country, which played a key role in get-out-the-vote efforts for Trump and other Republicans.
He was best known for appearing on campuses and debating liberal students, which he was doing when he died at UVU, the first stop of his American Comeback Tour.
Kirk frequently visited Trump at the White House, displaying the pair’s tight bond.
Trump announced Thursday that Kirk will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Father-of-two Kirk was killed by a single gunshot wound to the neck on Wednesday afternoon at Utah Valley University
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika Frantzve, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months
While speaking at the Pentagon, he said the ceremony details will soon be announced.
‘I can only guarantee you one thing – that we will have a very big crowd. Very, very big,’ he told the crowd.
‘I have no doubt that Charlie’s voice and the courage he put into the hearts of countless people, especially young people, will live on.’
For more on this story as it unfolds – follow Daily Mail podcast ‘The Assassination of Charlie Kirk,’ out now wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube.
