Please Don’t Stop Praying for the Kirk Family
It’s been six days since Charlie Kirk was struck down in Utah. The shock of all of it remains, along with the candlelight vigils standing as a testimony to his grand memory. Tributes keep pouring in. A formal memorial is scheduled for Sunday in Phoenix.
But the painful aftermath has only just begun.
Tyler Robinson, the suspected assassin of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, is expected to make his first appearance in court Tuesday.
The 22 year-old turned himself into authorities last Thursday night after an intense manhunt. Officials announced plans to charge him with aggravated murder and pursue the death penalty.
At Tuesday’s news conference, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray shared that it was Charlie Kirk’s politics that fueled Robinson’s evil. According to Robinson’s mother, the assassin “had become more political… more pro-gay and trans rights oriented.”
Tyler Robinson was living with a sexually confused man who had expressed desire to identify as a woman.
As reports began trickling out about Robinson’s arrest last week, we learned that it was his parents who helped orchestrate the surrender.
After the FBI released images of the suspect in question, information reached Matt and Amber Robinson, Tyler’s father and mother. Amber thought the photo looked like her son. Matt Robinson, who runs a custom kitchen counter business in southern Utah, agreed. Earlier reports that claimed Matt Robinson was former law enforcement officer were not accurate. Amber Robinson is a social worker.
Officials said on Tuesday that the Robinsons reached out to their son after seeing the photo. He first claimed he was home sick. He soon threatened to commit suicide, but his parents were able to convince him to come to the family home and talk. The family reached out to a pastor in the family’s Mormon ward. The bishop encouraged Tyler to surrender.
Some outlets are hailing Matt Robinson as the “Father of Justice” for doing the right thing – but such a moniker rings a bit hollow given the pain and anguish of the situation. Other sites have noted how difficult a decision it must have been for the mother and father – as if the prospect of harboring a fugitive is a subject of rationale debate.
Scott Messinger, a former bishop in the family’s church, acknowledged the emotional component facing the parents.
“I’m sure they didn’t want to see their son get the death penalty,” he said. “But what he did was wrong. They turned him in.”
Tragically, what Matt and Amber Robinson encountered and are enduring, while magnified because of the high-profile nature of this crime, is what thousands of mothers and fathers face each year in the United States.
In August, the FBI released preliminary crime statistics for 2024. There was a murder every 31.1 minutes – many at the hands of people with mothers and fathers who are still living, parents who once held that now violent criminal back when they were a baby.
It was King Solomon who wrote, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). We know Proverbs are true – but due to man’s fallen nature and sin, they are not promises. Many heartbroken mothers and fathers do their best to teach, guide and parent according to the Scriptures – and yet sometimes those children as they grow up choose to walk away from God’s truth.
If, as a parent, you find yourself embroiled in a difficult situation with a child who has turned their back on their faith or rebelling in any number of ways, Focus on the Family counselors and resources are available to help you navigate the challenge. Writing for the ministry, Lainey La Shay suggests ten things moms and dads can do when children are deconstructing their faith.
Since Wednesday’s tragedy, millions of Christians have been praying for Ericka Kirk and her children, along with the entire Kirk family and the Turning Point USA team. Erika Kirk has demonstrated incredible resolve and courage. The road she faces is long and difficult. The trauma that family has encountered is unfathomable and heartbreaking. Please don’t stop praying for the Kirks.
Image from Getty.
