{"id":2487346,"date":"2025-09-16T18:58:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/man-who-claimed-to-have-shot-charlie-kirk-hit-with-multiple-child-sexual-exploitation-charges\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T19:01:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T23:01:21","slug":"man-who-claimed-to-have-shot-charlie-kirk-hit-with-multiple-child-sexual-exploitation-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/man-who-claimed-to-have-shot-charlie-kirk-hit-with-multiple-child-sexual-exploitation-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Who Claimed to Have Shot Charlie Kirk Hit with Multiple Child Sexual Exploitation Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fman-who-claimed-to-have-shot-charlie-kirk-hit-with-multiple-child-sexual-exploitation-charges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2487346&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A 71-year-old man named george Zinn was taken into custody at Utah Valley University after falsely claiming he had shot Charlie Kirk. During questioning, Zinn admitted he had not committed the shooting but intended to distract authorities to help the real assailant escape.Upon inquiry, law enforcement discovered Zinn possessed numerous graphic sexual images of children on his phone, leading to charges of felony obstruction of justice and multiple counts of child exploitation. Zinn has a history of criminal behavior and has frequently attended political events in the area. He was released from the hospital and is now held in Utah County Jail on these charges, with no believed connection to the actual shooting of Kirk.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netflix-cheer-star-jerry-harris-sentenced-to-12-years-for-child-pornography-other-sexual-misconduct-charges\/\" title=\"Netflix \u2018Cheer\u2019 Star Jerry Harris Sentenced To 12 Years For Child Pornography, Other Sexual Misconduct Charges\">sexual photos<\/a> of children as well as felony obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n<p>The Utah Valley Sheriff&rsquo;s Office said in a Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/lookner\/status\/1968005787386777941\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news release<\/a> that shortly after Kirk&rsquo;s assassination, George Zinn, 71, approached officers, saying he was the shooter.<\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/man-arrested-immediately-charlie-kirk-assassination-trying-help-shooter-prosecutors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">confessed<\/a> he had not shot Kirk, but was trying to create a distraction to give the real assassin time to flee.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: George Zinn, 71, arrested at the scene of Charlie Kirk&rsquo;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&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NwE8LMkOqB\">pic.twitter.com\/NwE8LMkOqB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bennyjohnson\/status\/1968015080223555763?\">September 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>During the interview at the hospital, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-fbi-director-dna-scene-matches-charlie-kirk-assassin-suspect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FBI<\/a> agent and an agent from the Utah State Bureau of Investigation asked to look at Zinn&rsquo;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.<\/p>\n<p>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 &ldquo;various stages of undress and sexual posing,&rdquo; according to the news release.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, &ldquo;There were several very <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >graphic sexual text threads<\/a> in which Zinn d the images with other parties.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">George Zinn, the original person arrested for the Charlie Kirk shooting and then released, has been charged with obstruction of justice and possession of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-sex-trafficking-advocates-slam-twitter-on-heels-of-bombshell-lawsuit-from-teen-victim\/\" title=\"Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Slam Twitter On Heels Of Bombshell Lawsuit From Teen Victim\">child sex abuse material<\/a>. He is not believed to be connected with the shooting. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FdzZa8Nz5K\">pic.twitter.com\/FdzZa8Nz5K<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Steve Lookner (@lookner) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lookner\/status\/1968005787386777941?\">September 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Zinn was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/2025\/09\/16\/older-man-arrested-after-charlie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">released<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>In an affidavit, Utah Valley University Police Detective Michael Dutson said Zinn approached him after Kirk was shot, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/ksltv.com\/local-news\/utah-man-who-falsely-claimed-he-shot-charlie-kirk-booked-into-jail\/819948\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KSL-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[Zinn] immediately started yelling at me, &lsquo;I shot him, now shoot me,&rsquo;&rdquo; Dutson wrote in the document.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I could see both of his hands and could not see a weapon,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>When asked where the gun was, Zinn replied, &ldquo;I am not going to tell you,&rdquo; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc4.com\/news\/charlie-kirk-shooting-obstruction-of-justice-arrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KTVX-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Zinn has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/leftist-teacher-showed-charlie-kirk-assassination-students-told-deserved-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">history<\/a> of criminal charges and convictions. In 2013, he was convicted of making a terroristic threat at the Salt Lake City Marathon. &ldquo;Zinn is also known for hanging around political events,&rdquo; KSL reported.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/2025\/09\/16\/older-man-arrested-after-charlie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Salt Lake Tribune<\/a> reported, &ldquo;Zinn has been a Utah &lsquo;gadfly&rsquo; &mdash; regularly attending protests, Republican political functions and film screenings. He&rsquo;s been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/suspect-who-stabbed-killed-pentagon-officer-identified\/\" title=\"Suspect who stabbed, killed Pentagon officer identified\">arrested multiple times<\/a>, typically on suspicion of misdemeanors, often trespassing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man detained last week at Utah Valley University for falsely confessing to shooting Charlie Kirk has now been charged with possessing explicit sexual images of children and felony obstruction of justice. According to a Tuesday statement from the Utah Valley Sheriff&#8217;s Office, shortly after Kirk was shot, 71-year-old George Zinn approached police claiming responsibility. UVU officers arrested him and took him to campus police headquarters. While there, he reported chest pains and was taken to a hospital, where he admitted he had not shot Kirk but intended to distract authorities so the actual shooter could escape. During a hospital interview, FBI and Utah State Bureau of Investigation agents examined Zinn&#8217;s phone; he consented and confessed it contained child sexual abuse material. Investigators found over 20 images depicting children aged 5 to 12 in various states of undress and sexual poses, along with graphic text conversations sharing these images. Zinn was released from the hospital on Monday and is now held in Utah County Jail facing second-degree felony charges for obstruction of justice related to the Kirk case and four counts of exploiting a minor. He is not believed connected to the shooting itself<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2487347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kiddie-porn-suspect.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[41087,50403,4431,4133,4633],"class_list":["post-2487346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-child-exploitation","tag-crime-2","tag-legal","tag-news","tag-scandal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kiddie-porn-suspect.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2487346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2487346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2487346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487350,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2487346\/revisions\/2487350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2487347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2487346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2487346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2487346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}