The elderly man wrongfully accused of the assassination of Charlie Kirk is a regular at political events and has previously been arrested multiple times, according to reports.
Social media videos of George Zinn, 71, went viral as he was dragged away by police with his pants around his ankles in the moments after the conservative activist’s shooting.
Police later confirmed he was not a suspect given he did not match the description of the killer.
More details have since emerged about Zinn’s regular appearances at political events and how he was often thrown out for causing a nuisance.
“Almost every political event you can think of, there was always George somewhere in the background, listening,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune.
It has been reported he would at times disrupt events or protests.
Mr Gill described the 71-year-old as politically conservative and a leaning libertarian, insisting he is nothing more than a “gadfly”.
“He’s a person who can be odd and has those kinds of sometimes odd behaviour challenges,” he said.
Zinn was led away from the Utah Valley University campus as chaos continued among the 3000 attendees seconds after Kirk was struck in the neck by a bullet.
”He said he shot him, but I don’t know,” an officer said about the elderly man in a video.
Zinn - who has had run-ins with the law since the 1980s - was booked into a county jail on Wednesday and charged with obstruction of justice.
Kirk flown home, wife spotted
The remains of Charlie Kirk have been escorted by US Vice President JD Vance and flown to Arizona, the home state of the conservative activist.
His body was placed in a casket and transported in a hearse to Roland R. Wright National Guard Base in Utah on Thursday (local time) a day after he was assassinated while speaking at a university in the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour”.
Vice President Vance and second lady Usha Vance, were scheduled to be in New York City for a 9/11 memorial but changed their plans and flew to Utah where they met with Kirk’s heartbroken loved ones and to collect the casket.
Video showed the VP at the head of the escort as his longtime “true friend” as the casket was loaded on Air Force Two with the help of pallbearers.
In the background, Kirk’s wife Erika, a former beauty queen, was in tears and at one point raised her hand in the air as the casket went by.
It is the first time she has been seen in public since her husband’s death.
Family and friends then boarded Air Force Two, the plane reserved for the vice president.
The plane took off under tight security, with an army helicopter spotted hovering nearby and snipers watching the air space.
The plane later touched down at Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport.
It is not known when Kirk’s funeral will take place.
President Donald Trump has hinted it could be on the weekend of September 27.
Chilling POV of sniper
Photos have shown the chilling point of view from where the assassin was watching Charlie Kirk before he was assassinated.
The conservative activist was fatally gunned down in front of thousands of attendees at Utah Valley University while answering a question on mass shootings in the United States.
The killer was able to flee the campus quickly among the chaos, with authorities releasing overnight CCTV footage of the person of interest.
Hours later a press conference was held where they showed new vision of the assassin run along the roof and jump to the lawn below.
He appeared to injure himself as he limped away. The shooter was later spotted on security cameras in a nearby neighbour.
According to CBS, citing a police source and two officials, federal investigators have a name of the most wanted man in the US. That detail has not been released yet.
Seconds after Kirk was shot in the neck on Wednesday, social media video showed a dark figure running on the roof of a nearby school, later identified as the Losee Centre.
Photos from the top of the building have revealed the clear line of sight the shooter had to the father-of-two seated underneath a portable gazebo at the main school courtyard.
The reported rooftop is covered in gravel and police have turned it into a crime scene with orange markers pointing to what appeared to be indentations made by the killer.
The distance from the top of the campus to where Kirk was seated is about 180 metres, according to one report.
There are suggestions an assassination only involving one bullet was likely carried out by someone with firearm experience.
The killer was able to flee the university while police mistakenly arrested an older man who had his arms around his ankles and another man nearby.
Both were quickly deemed as non suspects due to not matching the description of the assassin.
Why killer picked that location
A retired FBI supervising agent said the assassin had chosen a spot that would allow him to get away from the university as far away as quickly possible.
“If you come off that roof – and I’ve seen drone footage of this – there’s an open-air parking lot behind that building,” James Gagliano told Fox and Friends.
“It’s spitting distance from I-15 … a major thoroughfare there. So, this is a big concern because this person, within three to five minutes of that shot going off, that person could have been in a vehicle on his way out and miles and miles away.”
Mr Gagliano also flagged the nearest airport was only 45 minutes from the campus, suggesting the shooter could have easily boarded a plane and fled anywhere in the US.
He also argued the assassin did not have to be a trained professional with guns, saying a scope can make the shot “very easy” from 180 metres.
Manhunt continues
It has been more than 24 hours since the deadly shooting, with the killer still at large.
Authorities have released CCTV vision of a “person of interest” overnight.
He was dressed in a dark top emblazoned with the American flag and eagle, and text that read “land of the free, home of the brave”.
The man also wore a cap and sunglasses to conceal his identity.
A reward of $100,000 is on offer for information leading to his identification and arrest.
Multiple agencies, including the FBI, are involved in the search but have not yet led to any results.
“We are asking for the public’s help identifying this person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University,” the FBI wrote to X.
Police located a .30-06-calibre bolt action rifle wrapped in a towel and found in the wooded area near the campus in the town of Orem in Utah.
Federal investigators suspect it was the murder weapon.
Police sources say the weapon contained cartridges engraved with “pro transgender and anti-fascist ideology” but that has not been confirmed, The New York Post reported.
Minutes after the shooting early on Wednesday afternoon (local time), police mistakenly arrested an older man who had his legs around his ankles and a young man.
Both were quickly identified as not being the shooter given they were not matching the description.
Nation in mourning
Many in the US are mourning the death of Kirk.
Flags are flying at half-mast at the White House, public grounds and buildings, military post and naval stations across the country until Sunday at the order of President Trump.
A floral tribute continues to grow outside the headquarters of Turning Point USA, a non-profit organisation advocating conservative politics founded by Kirk when he was aged 18.
Prayers and candlelight vigils were held across the nation.
The body of the conservative activist will be flown back to his home state of Arizona on Air Force Two, the vice president’s aircraft.
Vice President JD Vance, who said he was friends with Kirk, and his wife Erika will accompany the heartbroken family and friends on the flight.
Kirk was a key supporter of President Trump and had risen in popularity among young conservatives by merging multi-platform media and in-person speaking events.
He is known for visiting liberal-leaning high schools, colleges and university campuses to debate students and was a huge figure in the MAGA movement.
The 31-year-old is survived by his wife Erika Frantzve, 36, a former Miss Arizona beauty queen, and his two young daughters.
