George Zinn, a 71-year-old Utah political activist, was charged with obstruction and released after being detained in the chaotic moments following the shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at an event Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Zinn was taken into custody shortly after Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck, and was initially suspected by some witnesses and a responding officer of having claimed responsibility. Police later clarified that Zinn was not the shooter and reversed an earlier notice that said a suspect was in custody. Authorities say Zinn was charged with obstructing an investigation for allegedly distracting officers by falsely saying he had shot Kirk.
Video circulating on social media showed Zinn being detained as members of the crowd hurled abuse. In one clip, a bystander shouted, “How dare you, you f***ing monster!” and other footage captured Zinn telling the crowd to “shoot me.” An officer at the scene is heard in reporting as saying, “he said he shot him, but I don’t know,” before investigators determined the shooter was someone else.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune that Zinn is a familiar presence at political events across the state and that his office has prosecuted him numerous times dating back to the 1980s. Gill described Zinn as a libertarian conservative who often attended demonstrations and political gatherings and said the office had attempted to get him into mental health court on prior misdemeanor charges, but that Zinn did not participate.
Most of Zinn’s past arrests were for trespassing, Gill said. Zinn’s most serious prior charge came in 2013, when he faced allegations of threatening to plant bombs at the finish line of the Salt Lake City Marathon. He accepted a plea deal in that case and was initially sentenced to probation before being ordered to serve a year in jail, with credit for time served, after violating probation, according to court records cited by local media.
Local reporting also lists several more recent and minor run-ins with law enforcement: a May detention for a misdemeanor count of walking in a roadway, a January arrest on a trespassing suspicion after an attempt to enter the Sundance Film Festival when he was banned, and a 2019 custody following a protest against the Utah Inland Port Authority. Zinn has been noted by residents and reporters as showing up at a range of political events, from county addresses and think-tank appearances to campaigns.
An officer’s incident report cited in local coverage quotes an exchange in which Zinn allegedly said he did not care about vehicles being delayed and resisted directions to wait on the sidewalk, telling an officer to take him to jail. Those remarks reflect a pattern law enforcement officials say has led to a series of low-level prosecutions and outreach attempts by prosecutors seeking alternatives tied to mental-health services.
Police continue to investigate the shooting at the university. Officials have not disclosed further details about the suspect who shot Kirk or whether additional charges have been filed in connection with the slaying. Zinn’s obstruction charge relates specifically to his conduct during the immediate aftermath of the shooting and not to the shooting itself, authorities said.
Media and social footage of the arrest prompted immediate public attention and scrutiny, drawing on Zinn’s long public history as a protester and fixture at political events in Utah. Gill characterized Zinn as “more of a gadfly than anything else,” noting that he has been present at “almost every political event you can think of.”
Prosecutors said the obstruction charge is a misdemeanor. Zinn was released after processing. Investigators have not said whether they will pursue additional prosecutions in relation to his prior record or other incidents captured in videos of the aftermath of Wednesday’s shooting.