Rachel Jeantel: 'Trayvon Hit First.' Wait, What?

In which the Puffington Host commits an act of actual journalism. I kid, they’ve got some good writers over this. Still, this is a bit out of character.

One of the key points of contention between the prosecution and defense during the trial of Zimmerman, who was acquitted of second-degree murder after killing the unarmed teen, was the question of who initiated the physical confrontation between the two.

Jeantel expounded on her thoughts on what occurred when Zimmerman and Martin met face to face. “I believe Trayvon hit first,” she said. She went on to describe how she believed that Trayvon throwing the first punch was likely caused by Zimmerman attempting to grab and detain Martin.

While it is impossible to confirm Jeantel’s speculation, this revelation coincides with the testimony she gave during the Zimmerman trial. On the stand, Jeantel indicated that she could hear Martin saying “get off, get off” before the phone call they were on disconnected. It also expands upon the account she gave earlier this week, during an interview on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.” The 19-year-old described to Morgan how she told Martin that Zimmerman might be a “pervert” or “rapist.” She believed that Martin’s fear led him to flee the older man, but not head straight to the home where he had been staying because the 12-year-old son of his father’s fiancee was there.

This is starting to add up, isn’t it? Jeantel admitted to Piers Morgan, at least twice as I recall, that she isn’t an honest person. Once, when she said that you can’t believe anything that she and Trayvon and their friends post on Twitter and Facebook because it’s all “brag.” Twice, when Morgan asked her if she’s honest and she said yes, then backtracked, smiled, and demurred.

But her story is starting to show a consistency. She and Trayvon were talking on the phone as they did all the time. “All day,” according to Jeantel in the Morgan interview. Trayvon thinks he’s being followed by a stranger, while he’s on the phone with a woman and, like every young male on the planet, might be inclined to show off for her. It’s what guys do. So he thinks he’s being followed, she tells him that the stranger might be a gay rapist, and then the adrenaline flows and Trayvon goes on the attack.

It turned out to be a fatal mistake, driven by young male peacock strutting and — here we go — gay-bashing. The prosecution’s star witness, it turned out, may have instigated the tragic fight.

At any rate, if Trayvon hit first, murder was off the table from that point.