Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of child abuse that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you suspect a child is being abused, find out how to report it in your state here. To connect with a counselor, you can call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4253.
(NewsNation) — George Zinn, the man who falsely claimed to have shot Charlie Kirk, has been charged with possession of child sexual abuse material.
Zinn, 71, has also been charged with obstruction of justice for claiming he was the one who shot Kirk. While in police custody, he experienced a medical emergency and was taken to the hospital.
At the hospital, Zinn told authorities that he didn’t shoot Kirk but yelled, “I shot him, now shoot me” immediately after the shooting in an attempt to help the gunman escape, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
During that interview, FBI and Utah State Bureau of Investigation agents asked Zinn for his phone so it could be searched, and he agreed. The sheriff’s office said he told the agents he uses his phone to look at and abuse child sexual abuse material, and that there may be some images of it on there, which agents later found to be true.
The case was handed over to the Utah County Special Victims Unit and detectives said they found over 20 illicit images of children ranging from 5 to 12 years old and several “very graphic sexual text threads” in which Zinn shared the images with other people. Zinn also allegedly admitted that he gets sexual gratification from looking at and sharing the images.
He is currently being held at the Utah County Jail on those charges. The sheriff’s office said there is no evidence that Zinn actually worked with the accused shooter, Tyler Robinson.
