A 71-year-old man who falsely confessed to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to obstruction of justice and guilty to child sexual abuse material charges.
George Zinn appeared before Judge Thomas Low in Provo, Utah, on Thursday. He admitted to screaming 'I shot him – now shoot me' at Utah Valley University immediately after Kirk was fatally shot by a sniper on 10 September 2025. Video of Zinn being restrained by police led some to believe he was the killer.
However, after a medical episode, Zinn told officers he was 'glad he said he shot the individual so the real suspect could get away', according to police documents. He also admitted to having illicit images on his phone, leading to charges of sexual exploitation of minors involving over 20 images of children aged five to 12.
Zinn pleaded no contest to a reduced obstruction charge and guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation. He received concurrent sentences of up to five years for obstruction and one to 15 years for the exploitation charges, with the parole board to decide his actual release date.
Zinn has a criminal record dating back three decades, including a 2013 arrest for allegedly asking marathon organisers if they needed help setting up bombs after the Boston Marathon bombing. Tyler Robinson, the actual suspect in Kirk's murder, faces aggravated murder charges and a potential death penalty, having pleaded not guilty.
