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An elderly man arrested immediately after Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination falsely claimed he shot the conservative activist to hinder the police response to find the actual shooter, the Utah County Sheriff\u2019s Office said<\/a> Tuesday.<\/p>\n The man falsely claimed he was the person who shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Photo by Trent Nelson\/The Salt Lake Tribune\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n George Zinn, 71, attended Kirk\u2019s event at Utah Valley University and was seen claiming that he shot Kirk shortly after the shooting, according to the sheriff\u2019s office. <\/p>\n Zinn was taken to the university\u2019s police department and later transported to a local hospital after he experienced a medical episode, the nature of which was not specified by the sheriff\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Utah County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Zinn, while at the hospital, stated he falsely claimed to be the shooter to obstruct local law enforcement\u2019s response to the assassination.<\/p>\n Law enforcement said there is no information that Zinn colluded with the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, who was charged Tuesday in connection to Kirk\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n Zinn also allowed law enforcement agents to look at his phone, which contained sexually explicit material of minors.<\/p>\n The sheriff’s office said Zinn admitted to investigators that he \u201cgets sexual gratification from viewing and sharing\u201d the images, \u201cand that his preferred victim age is five to 12 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n Zinn is still in custody and is being held on suspicion of felony counts of obstruction of justice and sexual exploitation of a minor.<\/p>\n Court records have not named an attorney for Zinn as of Tuesday afternoon, NBC News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts<\/strong>: We\u2019re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day\u2019s headlines. Text \u201cAlerts\u201d to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n What Else Do We Know About George Zinn?<\/p>\n Zinn was arrested in 2013 for sending threats to the organizers of the Salt Lake City Marathon days after the Boston Marathon Bombing, which killed three and injured over 260 people. Zinn has developed a reputation for showing up to public and political events in Salt Lake with the goal of disrupting the gatherings, according to The New York Times<\/a> and local NBC affiliate KSL 5.<\/a><\/p>\n Tangent<\/p>\n Police could be seen escorting Zinn<\/a> in videos posted to X following the shooting. Some users on social media and attendees of Kirk\u2019s event initially believed the 71-year-old to be the shooter before law enforcement later confirmed that was not the case.<\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n