Topline
An elderly man arrested immediately after Charlie Kirk’s assassination falsely claimed he shot the conservative activist to hinder the police response to find the actual shooter, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
The man falsely claimed he was the person who shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
George Zinn, 71, attended Kirk’s event at Utah Valley University and was seen claiming that he shot Kirk shortly after the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.
Zinn was taken to the university’s police department and later transported to a local hospital after he experienced a medical episode, the nature of which was not specified by the sheriff’s office.
Utah County Sheriff’s Office said Zinn, while at the hospital, stated he falsely claimed to be the shooter to obstruct local law enforcement’s response to the assassination.
Law enforcement said there is no information that Zinn colluded with the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, who was charged Tuesday in connection to Kirk’s assassination.
Zinn also allowed law enforcement agents to look at his phone, which contained sexually explicit material of minors.
The sheriff’s office said Zinn admitted to investigators that he “gets sexual gratification from viewing and sharing” the images, “and that his preferred victim age is five to 12 years old.”
Zinn is still in custody and is being held on suspicion of felony counts of obstruction of justice and sexual exploitation of a minor.
Court records have not named an attorney for Zinn as of Tuesday afternoon, NBC News reported.
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What Else Do We Know About George Zinn?
Zinn was arrested in 2013 for sending threats to the organizers of the Salt Lake City Marathon days after the Boston Marathon Bombing, which killed three and injured over 260 people. Zinn has developed a reputation for showing up to public and political events in Salt Lake with the goal of disrupting the gatherings, according to The New York Times and local NBC affiliate KSL 5.
Tangent
Police could be seen escorting Zinn in videos posted to X following the shooting. Some users on social media and attendees of Kirk’s event initially believed the 71-year-old to be the shooter before law enforcement later confirmed that was not the case.
Key Background
Robinson was charged Tuesday with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of a violence offense in the presence of a child. Utah County attorney Jeff Gray is seeking the death penalty for Robinson, alleging in a filing Robinson admitted to killing Kirk in a text exchange with his romantic partner. Prosecutors have also claimed DNA “consistent with” Robinson was identified on the rifle believed to have been used to shoot Kirk.
Further Reading
Charlie Kirk Shooting Suspect Charged With Aggravated Murder—Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty (Forbes)
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