A man who falsely claimed he killed Charlie Kirk is now facing federal child exploitation charges after investigators allegedly found explicit images of children on his phone.
George Zinn, 71, was charged Tuesday with four counts after FBI agents said they discovered photos of girls in underwear, according to court records cited by TMZ. Zinn allegedly admitted to investigators that he is “sexually aroused” by children. (RELATED: Trump Thinks Kirk Assassin Was Radicalized Online)
Zinn at first refused to turn over his phone after making false claims about killing Kirk but later told agents he used it to view “child sexual abuse material,” according to KSL. Agents said the device contained multiple images of children believed to be as young as five. Deputies then found more than 20 images of child pornography along with messages describing sexual acts.
Zinn told police he shot Kirk to “draw attention from the real shooter,” according to documents obtained by Fox 13 News. He allegedly approached an officer and said, “I shot him, now shoot me,” but refused to say where the weapon was.
Officers searched him and found no gun. Zinn was taken to the police station, where he admitted he had not shot Kirk but repeated that he only wanted to “draw attention from the real shooter,” the outlet reported.
Zinn also faces an obstruction charge over his false claim about shooting Kirk, according to The Guardian. It is not his first run-in with the law — KSL noted he was charged with making a terroristic threat at the 2013 Salt Lake City Marathon and has a history of showing up at political events.
A judge ordered that Zinn be held without bail Monday, The Guardian reported. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the sexual exploitation charges in a press release, alleging Zinn shared the messages with others in “graphic sexual text threads.”
The sheriff’s office said the investigation into the child sexual abuse material remains ongoing.