OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:56 PM – Tuesday, September 16, 2025
A 71-year-old man who was detained moments after the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk has been arrested on charges of attempting to mislead authorities by falsely confessing to the murder. He has also been booked for possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
George Zinn, 71, was taken into custody on Monday and he now faces a second-degree felony charge of obstructing justice in connection with Kirk’s death at Utah Valley University (UVU). Zinn will be held without bail, according to online court records.
State authorities also booked Zinn over material on his cellphone depicting child sexual abuse.
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Authorities stated that Zinn was initially reluctant to let investigators examine his phone, admitting that he used the device to look at inappropriate sexual content, according to a report from local sheriff’s deputies cited by KSL. A search of Zinn’s phone then uncovered more than 20 images of child sexual abuse involving minors believed to be between 5 and 12 years old, along with explicit messages sharing the material with other psychotic perverts.
Documents filed by UVU campus police stated that immediately after Kirk’s killing on September 10th, Zinn began screaming “I shot him – now shoot me!”
Video showing officers restraining Zinn circulated widely online, leading some to believe authorities had quickly apprehended the shooter. When asked by an officer where the firearm used in the killing was, Zinn allegedly replied: “I am not going to tell you.”
However, police say that Zinn later admitted that he was not the shooter and did not know who was. He reportedly claimed his actions were intended to divert attention from the “real” killer, in the hopes of becoming “a martyr.”
After initially being transported to a hospital for an unspecified medical issue, Zinn was released and taken into custody. According to police documents, during questioning, he admitted that his false confession was intended to mislead authorities, expressing that he was glad he claimed responsibility for the shooting since it allowed the real suspect a chance to get away.
Nonetheless, Zinn was still arrested on charges of obstruction of justice related to Kirk’s killing and the sexual exploitation of minors for the depraved content discovered on his phone.
Authorities announced the arrest of Kirk’s actual suspected killer on Friday after a two-day manhunt. He has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Washington County, Utah. Additionally, prosecutors charged Robinson with capital murder on Tuesday, and maintained that they intend to seek the death penalty. Robinson’s charges include aggravated murder, discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Robinson even referenced Zinn’s arrest in messages to his transgender lover/roommate on the day of the assassination. When asked whether the authorities had caught the man responsible, Robinson reportedly replied that he was the killer, explaining that police had initially “grabbed some crazy old dude,” without catching him, according to the messages — highlighted by prosecutors.
Zinn has a decades-long criminal history in Utah, according to KSL and other local outlets.
He is known to be a disgruntled political activist and gadfly — someone who shows up at political events or protests in disruptive ways to persistently challenge those in power, or, in Charlie Kirk’s case, those making a significant positive impact by bringing young American voters to the Republican Party.
Back in 2013, Zinn was also arrested after emailing Salt Lake City marathon organizers and asking if he could help plant bombs at the finish line — just days after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing. Authorities took the email seriously and charged him with a felony of “threat of terrorism,” but he took a plea deal and was sentenced to probation with conditions.
In August this year, he was also charged with criminal trespassing in Provo Justice Court.
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