The man, who was first arrested shortly following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and later released, tried to help the suspected shooter escape by faking a confession, authorities announced Tuesday.
Shortly after the Wednesday killing of Kirkin Utah, George Zinn, 71, yelled that he shot the conservative activist, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Zinn was then taken into custody by Utah Valley University Police, but was not cooperative with authorities and did not want to talk to investigators.
“Zinn began to have a medical issue and was transported to a local hospital,” Utah County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Tuesday. “While at the Hospital Zinn did freely state that he was not the shooter but yelled he was to hinder Law Enforcement’s response.”
“During the interview, the Agents asked to look at Zinn’s phone and Zinn agreed to let them. Zinn told the Agents that he uses his phone to view and abuse Child Sex Abuse Material and there may be some images on his phone,” law enforcement said. “Those Agents did see several images on the phone of prepubescent girls scantily dressed.”
Zinn is currently being held in Utah County Jail on obstruction of justice and child sex abuse material possession charge.
Zinn was one of the two people that law enforcement detained on Wednesday after the killing of Kirk. Both Zinn and the other individual were not involved in the deadly shooting, law enforcement determined.
Late Thursday, authorities arrested Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah resident, on suspicion of murder. Utah is seeking the death penalty against Robinson, unveiling seven charges on Tuesday, including one of aggravated murder.
“Charlie Kirk was murdered while engaging in one of our most sacred and cherished American rights, the bedrock of our democratic republic, the free exchange of ideas in a search for truth, understanding and a more perfect union,” Utah County Attorney General Jeff Gray said on Tuesday.