"Wanted To Distract": Man Who Falsely Claimed He Shot Charlie Kirk

George Zinn, a known "gadfly" who was led away from Utah Valley University in handcuffs after the assassination last Wednesday, told cops that he was trying to distract them from the real assassin, Tyler Robinson.

17 Sep 2025, 02:35 · NDTV

Washington:

The 71 year-old man who approached the cops immediately after Charlie Kirk was killed and yelled, "I shot him, now shoot me", told investigators that he was trying to "draw attention from the real shooter," according to a report.

George Zinn, a known "gadfly" who was led away from Utah Valley University in handcuffs after the assassination last Wednesday, told cops that he was trying to distract them from the real assassin, Tyler Robinson.

During an interogation, Zinn admitted he did not kill Kirk, but said he wanted to cause a distraction "to draw attention from the real shooter".

He made several comments after being taken to a local hospital due to a medical condition - saying he "wanted to be a martyr for the person who was shot," court papers stated, according a report.

He is now being charged with obstruction of justice, which is a second-degree felony.

Zinn is a known political "gadfly" who frequently pops up at events and is nearly always tossed out, with numerous trespassing arrests at events like film festivals, protests and political rallies.

"Almost every political event you can think of, there was always George somewhere in the background, listening," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said.

"He's a person who can be odd, and has those kinds of sometimes odd behavior challenges," said Gill, who has prosecuted Zinn several times. "But by and large, he's more of a gadfly than anything else."

In 2013, Zinn threatened to bomb the Salt Lake City Marathon and spent a year in the can for that incident, according to reports.

Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect was taken into custody last week a day after Kirk was fatally shot. He was charged with felony discharge of a firearm, punishable by up to life in prison, and obstructing justice, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

He was also charged with witness tampering because he had directed his partner to delete their text messages and told his partner to stay silent if questioned by police.

Show full article

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world