Editor’s Note: This article addresses child abuse and may be unsettling. Please read with caution. If you suspect child abuse, learn how to report it in your state here. To speak with a counselor, contact the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4253.
() George Zinn, the man who claimed to have shot Charlie Kirk when he did not, has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.
As per the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Zinn, aged 71, faces an obstruction of justice charge after claiming responsibility for the shooting of Kirk. During police custody, he suffered a medical incident and was hospitalized.
While at the hospital, Zinn confessed in an interview that he falsely claimed to have committed the act in order to delay the police, enabling the real perpetrator of Kirk’s murder to escape.
During the same interview, agents from the FBI and Utah State Bureau of Investigation requested access to Zinn’s phone for examination, which he allowed. Allegedly, Zinn admitted to using his phone for viewing and distributing child sexual abuse content, which agents confirmed upon inspection.
By Monday, after the Utah County Special Victims Unit took over the inquiry, detectives discovered over 20 illicit images of children aged between 5 and 12, along with several “extremely graphic sexual text exchanges” where Zinn shared these images. Zinn supposedly confessed to deriving sexual pleasure from both viewing and distributing these materials.
He is currently detained at the Utah County Jail on these charges. The sheriff’s office stated there is no evidence linking George Zinn with Tyler Robinson, the alleged shooter.
