A Utah man who falsely told police he had shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk was found to have child sexual abuse material on his phone after being taken to a hospital following the attack, authorities said.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office said George Zinn, 71, admitted while at the hospital that he had caused a disruption at Utah Valley University on the day Kirk was shot so law enforcement would be distracted from the actual shooter. Investigators say Zinn acknowledged to agents that “he uses his phone to view and abuse child sex abuse material and there may be some images on his phone,” and that he agreed to turn the device over to FBI agents. A subsequent search warrant executed by the Utah Special Victims Unit recovered what police described as more than 20 images of children ages 5 to 12 in various stages of undress and explicit text threads in which Zinn shared the images.
Zinn was arrested and on Monday was ordered held without bail on four counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of second-degree felony obstruction of justice, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities said there is no indication he colluded with the person who shot Kirk; rather, his false admission that he was the shooter delayed investigators from focusing on the actual suspect.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Police later identified 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the alleged shooter and arrested him on Friday. Officials said the search for Robinson took about 33 hours and during that time law enforcement detained and then released two people unconnected to the case.
Authorities said Zinn was initially suspected because video posted online showed him being taken into custody shortly after the shooting. Footage from the scene captured witnesses berating Zinn, and in one clip a uniformed officer is heard saying, “He said he shot him, but I don’t know.” After investigators cleared him as the shooter, Zinn told officers he had intended to create a diversion and that he “wanted to be a martyr for the person who was shot,” the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s detectives said the material found on Zinn’s phone remains under investigation. Investigators also reported discovering “several very graphic sexual text threads in which Zinn shared the images with other parties,” and that Zinn admitted he “gets sexual gratification from viewing and sharing” the images and preferred children between 5 and 12 years old.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune that Zinn is a familiar figure at local political gatherings and described him as a long-time “gadfly” who has been prosecuted on numerous small-time offenses dating back to the 1980s. Gill said his office had previously attempted to place Zinn in mental health court for misdemeanor charges but that Zinn “never really participated in that.”
Zinn’s past arrests include a 2013 case in which he was charged with threatening to plant bombs at the finish line of the Salt Lake City Marathon; he took a plea deal and later served a year in jail after violating probation. The sheriff’s office also noted a trespassing charge as recently as Aug. 22 and said Zinn has attended many political events in the state over the years.
Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s killing, was taken into federal and local custody after investigators identified him, police said. Utah allows the death penalty for certain murders, and former President Donald Trump has said he supports imposing the death penalty in this case.
Zinn was transported from the hospital to the Utah County Jail after the court ordered him held without bail. The sheriff’s office said the Utah Special Victims Unit has taken over the child exploitation investigation and that additional interviews and forensic examinations are ongoing.