Brian Harpole On Erika Kirk: 'You Don't Want To Hear' Her Reaction To Body

Brian Harpole, the former head of security for Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, has shared a raw, haunting recollection of the moments surrounding Kirk's assassination, including the instant Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, walked into the hospital room to see her husband's body.

In an emotional interview on The Shawn Ryan Show, Harpole warned listeners: 'You don't want to hear' her reaction.

The Moment the Shot Was Fired

Harpole said everything shifted in a split second during Kirk's appearance at Utah Valley University on 10 September. As Kirk addressed the audience, a gunshot echoed through the hall.

He threw himself over Kirk immediately, describing the blank, fixed gaze he saw in the speaker's eyes — 'doll's eyes,' he told Deseret News.

Realising the wound struck the carotid artery, he switched into survival mode: 'Pack, pressure, pray.'

Kirk was rushed out the door and into a van, Harpole pressing his hand to the wound the entire way.

The Race to the Hospital

The team sped toward Timpanogos Regional Hospital, Harpole still inside the vehicle, trying to stem the bleeding. Once they arrived, he carried Kirk inside, cut away his shirt for urgent defibrillation, and stepped aside as doctors took over.

Covered in blood from face to boots, he was led into a separate room by a nurse who quietly washed him clean.

'That showed me humanity,' he said — a moment he clung to amid the chaos.

Erika Kirk's Arrival — And Harpole's Warning

Later in the interview, Harpole described the moment Erika arrived at the hospital, insisting on seeing her husband despite professionals advising her to prepare herself.

'That's her husband,' Harpole said. 'You don't want to hear that. She's a victim.'

Shawn Ryan pressed him: Did she say something?

Harpole confirmed she did — but refused to repeat it on air.

What mattered to him, he said, was not the words but the force of her resolve.

What Erika Kirk Has Said Publicly

In earlier interviews, Erika recalled being told by medical staff, 'I don't think you want to see him like this.'

She ignored them.

'With all due respect... I want to see what they did to my husband,' she said, according to Yahoo News.

'And I want to give him a kiss, because I didn't get to give him a kiss this morning.'

When she finally saw his body, she noticed something unexpected: a faint smirk.

To her, it was a message.

'You thought you could end this by murdering me,' she said he seemed to convey. 'You got my body — you didn't get my soul.'

Why Harpole's Testimony Matters

Harpole's account adds an intimate, human dimension to a story consumed by political argument. He was physically on top of Kirk when the shot was fired. He rode with him to the hospital. He saw the aftermath up close.

His refusal to repeat Erika's words, and his emphasis on her grief, underlines a reality often lost in the noise: before anything else, this was a husband, a father, and a family shattered in a single moment.

Harpole's interview suggests that the deepest wounds weren't inflicted onstage, but in that hospital room — in the space between professional advice and a widow's determination to say goodbye.