Man who distracted police during Charlie Kirk shooting faces criminal charges

OREM — The man accused of distracting police after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, claiming he was the shooter, is now facing criminal charges in two cases.

George Hodgson Zinn, 71, was charged Thursday in Fourth District Court with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony. On Friday, prosecutors filed an obstruction of justice charge, also a second-degree felony.

The charges stem from an incident on Sept. 10, when a shot rang out at UVU while conservative activist Charlie Kirk was speaking with students. Kirk was struck in the neck and killed by the shot in front of about 3,000 students.

Officers at the scene reported that they saw an older man lying on the ground surrounded by people who appeared to be tending to him. The man, later identified as Zinn, told the officer, "I shot him, now shoot me" twice, according to charges.

Zinn's actions "diverted the attention of multiple law enforcement officers from their efforts to secure the scene and find the actual shooter," the charges state.

Zinn was first taken to a nearby hospital for chest pain. While at the hospital, Zinn told an officer that "he was glad he said he shot the individual so the real suspect could get away," the police booking affidavit said."He also stated to Officers that he wanted to be a martyr for the person who was shot."

Zinn was released from the hospital on Monday and then booked into the Utah County Jail.

Photos and video of his arrest quickly spread on social media, leading to erroneous reports that he was the shooter. Utah Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason announced that Zinn was taken into custody but had been cleared as the shooter within hours of his arrest.

There is currently no evidence that Zinn "colluded with the shooter," Utah County Sheriff's deputies said in an update on Tuesday.

FBI investigators interviewed Zinn at the hospital, where he admitted he wasn't the shooter, but he also said he "uses (his) phone to look at child sexual abuse material" after initially refusing to let investigators go through his phone, charges for the sexual exploitation case said.

Investigators went through the phone and found multiple inappropriate images containing children in his sent folder, charges state. Upon further investigation, detectives located explicit chats between Zinn and other users sending images to each other and discussing sexually assaulting children.

Known in Utah circles

Zinn is no stranger to law enforcement or the Utah political scene.

He has been arrested and charged numerous times over the past 30 years, primarily for trespassing in political spaces, according to state court records. He had been charged with criminal trespassing upon an institution, a class B misdemeanor, in Provo Justice Court earlier this month for an incident that occurred Aug. 22.

Zinn also made headlines in 2013 after he was charged with making a threat of terrorism, a second-degree felony, in relation to an email asking if Salt Lake City Marathon organizers "needed anybody to help place bombs near the finish line," shortly after the Boston Marathon bombing. Court records show he later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, which was amended to a class A misdemeanor.

He was also one of five people arrested during a disruption at a Utah Inland Port Authority Board meeting in 2019.

Zinn is a registered Republican and an active voter, voting records show. He has frequented Republican events and conventions in Utah for two decades and recent social media posts have pointed out how connected he was with prominent Utah GOP leaders.

In one thread, former Rep. Phil Lyman said, "Well that's interesting," to a post that had pictures of Zinn with Utah Republican Party Chairman Robert Axson and Mike Mower, senior adviser of community outreach and intergovernmental relations for Gov. Spencer Cox.

To which many people lashed out back at Lyman, pointing out that Zinn's endorsement of him was still on his campaign website.

On Wednesday, Axson released a statement "following additional information coming to light about George Zinn."

"The Utah Republican Party and I strongly condemn the callous and despicable behavior of George Zinn. For over twenty years, many Utahns at various public and republican events showed grace to someone with clear mental challenges," Axson said.

Axson said if Zinn is released from jail, he will not be welcome at any Utah Republican Party event.

"There is no excuse for Zinn's actions. He abused the patience of Uthans, added to the evil seen in our state, and obstructed law enforcement. His possession of child abuse material is reprehensible and demands punishment," Axson said.

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