A Utah man who falsely confessed to shooting Charlie Kirk during last week’s campus attack was also arrested on charges of possessing child sexual abuse materials after telling police he wanted to be a “martyr” and had hoped to distract officers from the real gunman.
Authorities say George Zinn, 71, approached a police officer immediately after the shooting at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 and yelled, “I shot him, now shoot me,” even though officers did not see a weapon on him. Zinn continued repeating the false claim as he was taken into custody, at one point telling officers to “just shoot him,” according to police records obtained by the Washington Examiner.
In addition to admitting to wanting to distract police from the real shooter, investigators say Zinn later confessed to possessing photos of “scantily dressed” underage girls. He has been charged with felony obstruction of justice and four counts of felony sexual exploitation of a minor, and is currently being held in the Utah County Jail.
Zinn’s outburst sparked widespread confusion as images circulated of him being led away in handcuffs, leading some to believe the suspected gunman had already been captured. Authorities later clarified that Zinn was not connected to the shooting and had been arrested for obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony.
Once at the police department, Zinn requested an attorney and recanted his earlier statements, telling officers he lied “to draw attention from the real shooter.” As he was being transported to the hospital due to a medical condition, he again said he hoped to serve as a distraction and “wanted to be a martyr” for Kirk.
While at the hospital, Zinn agreed to speak with an FBI agent and an investigator with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation. During the interview, Zinn voluntarily handed over his phone but warned agents that it contained child sex abuse material.
Agents located images of prepubescent girls on the device and referred the matter to the Utah County Special Victims Unit. A search warrant executed days later revealed over 20 disturbing images of children aged 5 to 12, as well as sexually explicit text threads in which Zinn allegedly shared the images with others, authorities said. Zinn confessed to receiving sexual gratification from viewing the content and stated his preferred victim age range was between 5 and 12 years old, authorities said in a press release.
Investigators say there is no evidence Zinn had any prior connection to Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect arrested nearly two days later for the murder of the Turning Point USA cofounder.
Robinson has not yet entered a plea and is facing state and potential federal charges.
Utah County prosecutors announced seven felony counts against him, including aggravated murder, a capital offense, in addition to several “victim targeting enhancements” against him because of Robinson’s belief or perception regarding Kirk’s political expression.
The investigation into Zinn’s possession of child sexual abuse material remains ongoing.
