Actor Tim Allen expressed that after listening to the moving eulogy delivered by Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, he has finally decided to forgive the person who took his father’s life sixty years ago.
At the memorial service for Charlie Kirk held in Glendale, Arizona on September 21, Erika Kirk – the mother of two children, expressed forgiveness towards the individual who murdered her husband. The founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed by the suspect on September 10 while giving a speech to positive-minded students at Utah Valley University.
The 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with aggravated murder, shooting causing serious injury, and other serious crimes. Prosecutors announced that they intend to seek a death penalty.
During the memorial, Erika Kirk stated, “I forgive him because that is what Christ did, and it is what Charlie would do.”
She further expressed, “An eye for an eye. We know from the Gospel that the right response is love and always love.”
72-year-old Tim Allen took to social media on Thursday to share how deeply moved he was by Erika’s words.
Allen wrote on social media platform X, “When Erika Kirk spoke about the person who killed her husband, saying, ‘That man… that young man… I forgive him.’ That moment deeply moved me.
“For over sixty years, I have been unable to forgive the person who killed my father. Now I want to say this: ‘I forgive the person who killed my father.’ Peace be with you all.”
Allen’s father, Gerald Dick, passed away in November 1964 due to a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
The “Shifting Gears” actor had mentioned this painful memory and the impact of his father’s death on his life during an appearance on “Inside the Actors Studio” in 2006.
Recalling the tragic incident, Allen said, “My father had taken my mother and six children to see a football game in Colorado.
“That afternoon, on the way back home driving, a car suddenly crossed over the lanes of Interstate 70, went through the median, and hit and crushed on my father’s side; his neck snapped and he died right there in my mother’s arms.”
Allen, who was just 11 years old at the time of the accident, later stated that if he hadn’t decided to go play with a friend at a neighbor’s house that day, he would have been in the car as well.
He reflected, “The unexpected death of a family member does change a person, from the cells to the DNA.
“Everything in my life changed. And ever since then… I’ve always hated November.”
Translated and rewritten by AI.