In all the fire-hose flood of information and revelations in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, it's easy to forget that first suspect, the older man near the stage that we saw arrested in real time. He was quickly cleared of any direct involvement and released. As it turns out, though, he may be in some legal trouble after all; on Tuesday, reports surfaced that he may have drawn the police's attention to himself deliberately. Why? To help buy time for Charlie's murderer to escape.
If this is true, then all I can say is, what a despicable piece of filth.
George Zinn, the first man arrested in connection with Charlie Kirk's shooting death, tried to help the gunman escape, according to newly filed documents.
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) September 16, 2025
MORE: https://t.co/dlFSFNFmGq pic.twitter.com/ildt48b2uq
The NewsNation article linked in that X post has more details:
The first man arrested in connection with the deadly shooting of Charlie Kirk yelled, “I shot him, now shoot me” immediately after the shooting in an attempt to help the shooter escape, according to newly filed documents.
George Zinn, 71, was taken into custody following the shooting, but he was later cleared on having any direct involvement with the shooting. He was arrested on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
Currently, investigators have a suspect in custody for the shooting. Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested on September 11 after he told a family member that he was the one who shot and killed Charlie Kirk.
According to the affidavit of probable cause that was filed today, immediately after the shooting, Zinn allegedly walked up to a police officer and started yelling, “I shot him, now shoot me.” The officer could not see a weapon in his hands and placed him in handcuffs. The officer asked him where the gun was, and he reportedly said, “I am not going to tell you.”
This seems right for federal charges of being an accessory after the fact. 18 U.S. Code § 3 - Accessory after the fact states in part:
Whoever, knowing that an offense against the United States has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact.
That implies that, if an offender, say, Charlie Kirk's murderer, is charged with any federal crime, then anyone who assists that person, by, say, drawing law enforcement attention away, could be charged under this statute.
To which I can only say, let's get after it. There are new revelations almost by the hour in this case, implications that other people knew what Tyler Robinson was planning, and other people knew just afterwards that he had carried out his crime. Now there's George Zinn, who reportedly deliberately tried to draw police attention away from Robinson, not because he knew about the act in advance (that we know of), but simply seizing the opportunity to be a scumbag.
Read More: Charlie Kirk Suspect's Chilling Justification for Shooting Revealed in Text Messages
It turns out George Zinn has a history of being a scumbag.
A man who prosecutors say asked Salt Lake City Marathon organizers if he could help set up bombs at the finish line now faces a criminal charge.
George Hodgson Zinn, 59, told investigators "he didn't mean anything" by sending an email to the marketing director of the marathon asking, “I was wondering if you needed anybody to help place bombs near the finish line on Saturday???," according to court documents. But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said given the level of concern around the country following the bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured 170 earlier that week, all allegations are taken seriously.
It's time for George Zinn to "find out." Let him be charged. Let him be tried. If he's found guilty, let him be imprisoned. Let him serve as an example, pour encourager les autres.
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