In an attempt to let the real gunman get away, a 71-year-old man at Utah State University falsely confessed to killing Charlie Kirk moments after the conservative commentator was shot.
The man, identified as George Zinn, shouted at officers in the chaotic aftermath of the shooting, “I shot him, now shoot me.” According to Fox 13, Zinn’s actions caused confusion among police, leading to his arrest on charges of obstruction of justice.
Kirk was shot in the neck while addressing thousands of students at the university. While officers tried to take control of the situation, Zinn’s repeated claims drew their attention. Despite officers not seeing a weapon, he repeatedly claimed that he was the shooter.
When police pressed him on the location of the firearm, Zinn refused to cooperate. As he was being handcuffed and escorted away, he once again told officers to “just shoot me.”
ZINN LATER ADMITTED TO MAKING FALSE CLAIMS
In custody, Zinn admitted he had not shot Kirk. He reportedly told officers he made the claims “to draw attention from the real shooter.” He allegedly called himself as wanting to be “a martyr for the person who was shot.”
Police said his behaviour delayed their immediate response to the actual crime and consumed resources that were needed to track the true suspect.
The suspect, identified as Tyler Robinson, 22, was taken into custody on Thursday night, about 33 hours after the shooting, FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters. The agency had received more than 11,000 tips as of Friday morning, the most since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, he said.
The FBI reported that a Mauser bolt-action rifle, believed to have been used in the killing, was discovered near spent bullet casings.
A towel wrapped around the firearm and a screwdriver located on the building’s rooftop both tested positive for Robinson’s DNA, federal agents confirmed.
PROSECUTORS TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY FOR SUSPECT
Utah prosecutors said on Tuesday they will seek the death penalty for the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination, hours before he was due in court via video feed from jail in his first public appearance since the shooting.
Utah County District Attorney Jeffrey Gray said at a press conference that his office had filed seven counts against Robinson on Tuesday, including aggravated murder, obstruction of justice for disposing of evidence and witness tampering for asking his roommate to delete texts implicating him.
– Ends
With inputs from agencies