The elderly man who was caught on video screaming, “Shoot me!” after falsely confessing to shooting Charlie Kirk has pleaded no contest to a third-degree charge of obstruction of justice.
71-year-old George Zinn added to the chaos on Sept. 10 when Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University by claiming to have been the shooter. He was dragged away while his pants slipped to his ankles.
‘I want to put the past behind me and move forward.’
After Zinn was questioned by police, they said they discovered child sex abuse material on his cell phone, which led to more charges.
On Thursday he also pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, but denied in a statement to the court that he was a threat to children.
Utah Fourth District Court Judge Thomas Low sentenced Zinn to up to 15 years for all of the charges. A parole board will ultimately decide how much time he spends in prison.
Zinn helped incite conspiracy theories about the shooting, but he was known for being a nuisance at high-profile political and cultural events in Utah. He had more than two dozen previous arrests, the most serious one involving an alleged bomb threat made to the Salt Lake City Marathon by email.
Police said that he admitted to trying to divert “the attention of multiple law enforcement officers from their efforts to secure the scene and find the actual shooter.”
22-year-old Tyler James Robinson was charged for the murder of Kirk based on a trove of evidence that included a confession note and extensive physical evidence.
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Zinn did not mention Charlie Kirk in his statement to the court asking for mercy.
“I want to put the past behind me and move forward,” he said as he became emotional.
Zinn’s defense attorney, Carly Madsen, told the court that he never fit in and didn’t get the help he needed.
“Never really got the love or attention he deserved,” she added. “And never got the help he needed, resources that would that helped him years ago.”
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