this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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George Zinn, who allegedly fabricated a confession in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has been arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and possession of child sexual abuse material, Utah authorities said.

Zinn, 71, was arrested at the scene of the September 10 shooting at Utah Valley University in Orem after shouting, "I shot him, now shoot me." He later told investigators he faked the confession to help the real suspect—later identified as Tyler Robinson—escape, according to a probable cause statement.

Authorities said an investigation into Zinn led to the discovery of explicit material on his phone, including more than 20 images of children between the ages of 5 and 12. Court records also cite graphic messages in which Zinn admitted to being aroused by the material.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, FBI agents interviewed Zinn at the hospital where he was taken after complaining of chest pain. During that interview, Zinn admitted to viewing child sexual abuse material and said he was "sexually aroused" by children.

Investigators reportedly found images of underage girls in their underwear on his phone.

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[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 107 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Why did they make a statement to saying they released him if they knew he had kiddie porn?

Did they really release him after the fact then arrest him again?!

This guy also had a weird connection to Ronald Reagan's administration and the 1988 RNC. This is all so fucking weird.

I feel like it just cannot be a coincidence that all these men are pedophiles. Did they try to cover for him and get caught?

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think this is all to save face after Patel made a (bigger) fool of himself on TV claiming they had the shooter when they didnt. This man is the local whackadoo and has restraining orders against him barring him from contacting certain government officials and the LDS church. He was also arrested just after the Boston Marathon bombing for making a post asking the Salt Lake Marathon officials if he could help them place their bombs at the finish line of the race.

[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's hard to say though.

I could see that, but also isn't that hard to believe he was there to intentionally help distract after the shooting.

Or hard to believe he's got some connections within the Republican party that would have allowed him to just walk away initially even though he had child porn on his phone.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

I seriously doubt he had any connection to the shooter and was just seizing the opportunity to create confusion and disruption as that is his M.O. at public meetings and other events from what is being reported about him.

If you were going to assassinate someone and wanted to get away clean, collaborating with an associate whose job it is to take the blame and get arrested on the spot is just about the dumbest possible option since they could easily give you up while in police custody.

As far as the CP, police may have cloned the contents of his phone and not discovered it until later or perhaps they waited for the prosecutor to decide since the article mentions they were in their underwear in the images, which might not be so cut and dry.

Either way I still think all the publicity around this is just an attempt to save face after they looked like fools. They're coming down hard on whomever they can to make themselves look less inept.

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

I feel like it just cannot be a coincidence

That's because it isn't a coincidence.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 49 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Authorities said an investigation into Zinn led to the discovery of explicit material on his phone, including more than 20 images of children between the ages of 5 and 12. Court records also cite graphic messages in which Zinn admitted to being aroused by the material.

First off, I am in no way, shape or form defending the use of child pornography here ...

but I have to wonder if the authorities are telling the whole truth. I mean how many paedophiles would only have a few pics on their phone?

Never mind the 'authorities' (aka cops) saying he admitted to being aroused by the pics.

It all sounds more than a little sus to me. Time will tell if the charges stand or are dismissed.

I might normally agree, but we are also talking about a guy who just decided to fake a confession to murder on the scene. That was his first impulse. Whatever supposed justification he had for that (which also seems doubtful), it does not fill me with confidence that he is of sound mind and applying reason to his actions. And if he is lucid, it really seems like he's trying to go to jail. Could be trying to get medical care or something along those lines? If that were the case, that might explain both his fake confession and his small collection of CP in his phone.

[–] Cypher@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

This sounds like someone sent him CP and he replied to them saying he liked them.

The relatively low number of images compared to most offenders you hear about doesn’t point to a pattern of sustained offending.

It sounds like this guy is seriously weird.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 34 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

When a bunch of files got leaked from UK intelligence agencies some years back, one of the programs mentioned was one that could essentially frame targets with CP material.

I'm not sure this administration is competent enough to do that, but I'd bet money they got embarrassed and are using some bathtime pic one if his kids sent him of his grandkids.

Then came the forced confession.

[–] Trevita17@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Add the fact that the source is Newsweek, and I'm definitely not taking this at face value.

[–] Hector@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It would be easy for them to do. And everyone would take their word for it.

[–] piecat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Character assasination would be pretty effective to preventing more luigis. Would people still think he's hot if he got framed for that??

[–] betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's a high-risk "if the president does it, it's not illegal" gambit. Glad it didn't work out for him.

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 16 points 1 month ago

If he runs for president it could still work!

[–] MoogleMaestro@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 month ago

Just when you thought this timeline couldn't get any stupider.