A man who falsely claimed he had shot Charlie Kirk in the immediate aftermath of the gunshot that killed the right-wing activist has been charged with obstruction of justice and possession of child sex abuse material.
Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a Turning Point USA rally at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10.
As people were fleeing the area after the shooting, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office alleged that George Zinn, 71, was seen yelling that he had shot Kirk.
Zinn was subsequently taken into custody by campus police before being taken to a hospital after suffering from a medical issue, the sheriff’s office said.
Initially, Zinn was not cooperative, but after he was taken to the hospital, the sheriff’s office alleged that he admitted to saying he’d lied about being the shooter in order to hinder police from finding the actual shooter.
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Law enforcement personnel interviewing Zinn then asked if he would allow them to search his phone. Zinn agreed, the sheriff’s office said, and allegedly said that officers would find child sex abuse material on the device and that he used his phone to view the images.
“During a preliminary review of the phone, UCSO SVU Investigators did view over 20 images of children ranging from 5 to 12 years old in various stages of undress and sexual posing,” the sheriff’s office alleged in its press release. “There were several very graphic sexual text threads in which Zinn shared the images with other parties.”
The sheriff’s office further alleged that Zinn admitted to get sexual gratification from viewing and sharing the child sexual abuse material and preferred victims between the ages of 5 and 12.
It is not immediately clear if Zinn has entered a plea to either of the charges he faces. He is currently being held in Utah County jail.
Authorities do not believe Zinn actually colluded the with the shooter.
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As videos and images from the Kirk shooting circulated online, one spread of police handcuffing a man, whom many commenters subsequently mistook for the suspected shooter. The New York Times reported that the man in those images was Zinn.
A manhunt for the suspect ended with the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was turned in after being recognized by family members in images circulated by law enforcement, authorities have said.
Robinson is accused of killing Kirk and is charged with aggravated murder, along with multiple other felonies.
He Falsely Claimed He Shot Charlie Kirk — Then Police Allegedly Found Disturbing Cache on Phone | NFL Sports
