The man who was taken into custody at Utah Valley University last week after falsely claiming that he had shot Charlie Kirk has now been charged with possessing graphic sexual photos of children as well as felony obstruction of justice.
The Utah Valley Sheriff’s Office said in a Tuesday news release that shortly after Kirk’s assassination, George Zinn, 71, approached officers, saying he was the shooter.
UVU police took him into custody and took him to the police office on campus. While there, he complained of chest pains and was transported to a local hospital, where he confessed he had not shot Kirk, but was trying to create a distraction to give the real assassin time to flee.
BREAKING: George Zinn, 71, arrested at the scene of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and who falsely claimed to be the shooter, has now been charged with felony obstruction of justice and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after the FBI discovered images of underage girls… pic.twitter.com/NwE8LMkOqB
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 16, 2025
During the interview at the hospital, an FBI agent and an agent from the Utah State Bureau of Investigation asked to look at Zinn’s phone. He told the agents that they could and admitted that he had sexual photos of children in it. The agents found several images.
The Utah County Special Victims Unit further investigated the matter and located over 20 images of children ranging from 5 to 12 years old in “various stages of undress and sexual posing,” according to the news release.
Additionally, “There were several very graphic sexual text threads in which Zinn shared the images with other parties.”
George Zinn, the original person arrested for the Charlie Kirk shooting and then released, has been charged with obstruction of justice and possession of child sex abuse material. He is not believed to be connected with the shooting. pic.twitter.com/FdzZa8Nz5K
— Steve Lookner (@lookner) September 16, 2025
Zinn was released from the hospital Monday and is currently being held in Utah County Jail on charges of second-degree felony obstruction of justice, in relation to the Kirk assassination, and four counts of second-degree felony exploitation of a minor.
In an affidavit, Utah Valley University Police Detective Michael Dutson said Zinn approached him after Kirk was shot, according to KSL-TV.
“[Zinn] immediately started yelling at me, ‘I shot him, now shoot me,’” Dutson wrote in the document.
“I could see both of his hands and could not see a weapon,” he said.
When asked where the gun was, Zinn replied, “I am not going to tell you,” according to KTVX-TV.
Zinn has a history of criminal charges and convictions. In 2013, he was convicted of making a terroristic threat at the Salt Lake City Marathon. “Zinn is also known for hanging around political events,” KSL reported.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported, “Zinn has been a Utah ‘gadfly’ — regularly attending protests, Republican political functions and film screenings. He’s been arrested multiple times, typically on suspicion of misdemeanors, often trespassing.”
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