George Zinn, a 71-year-old man from Utah, has been charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The charges were filed after investigators discovered over 20 explicit images of children, some as young as five years old, on his phone. According to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Zinn confessed to deriving sexual pleasure from viewing and sharing these images, with his preferred victim age range being 5 to 12 years old.
Zinn first came to the attention of law enforcement following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. He approached officers at the scene, unarmed, and claimed responsibility for the shooting, shouting, “I shot him, now shoot me.” He was promptly taken into custody. Zinn, known as a political agitator, is also facing an obstruction of justice charge for falsely claiming to be the shooter, allegedly in an attempt to help the real perpetrator escape.
The incident took place at Utah Valley University. Zinn’s arrest for his disruptive behavior led to the discovery of the explicit images on his phone. Initially, Zinn was uncooperative when taken to the campus police headquarters. However, after being transported to the hospital for a medical issue, he admitted he was not the shooter and consented to a search of his phone.
The actual suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was identified and charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice. Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was attending an event on his American Comeback Tour when he was shot in the neck. His body was later transported to Arizona from Utah on Air Force Two, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance.
Robinson was apprehended more than 30 hours after the shooting. There is no evidence to suggest that Robinson and Zinn were in collusion. Kirk’s funeral is scheduled for September 21 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
A search warrant was obtained for Zinn’s phone, leading to the discovery of the explicit images and several graphic sexual text threads. Zinn is currently being held in county jail.