But hey, we could end this whole thing right now if you - or anyone else - simply provided the evidence that proves Martin assaulted Zimmerman.
While not undeniable proof, there are slme things I certainly find to be compelling reasons to believe Trayon did assault Zimmerman:
1.) The evidence that Trayvon doubled back and traveled a significant distance away from his destination in order to confront Zimmerman at the T - via timeline, NEN call, debris trail, witnesses hearing an aggressive confrontational voice at T responded to by a softer voice and then the sound of an attack which moved south rapidly which all fits Zimmerman's account, Jeantel testimony (not gonna run, by his father's house, gun not out, whoopbutt, swung first, actin' like security), Brandi Green's implication that Trayvon had been on the porch (I suspect he left items there he didn't want on him if Zimmerman proved to be a real authority figure or accompanied by one) etc.
2.) As stated before, the best explanation of Jeantel's post-call behavior and refusal to come forward is that she knew Trayvon had an illegal assault planned. Her behavior is completely inconsistent with a situation where she believed Trayvon to be legally in the right, or an innocent victim of Zimmerman's actions. Her actions fit perfectly with her knowing an assault was the entire purpose of confronting the stranger, and viewing Trayvon and maybe even herself as the culpable parties in need of deception and laying low.
3.) Zimmerman's account and how well it fit evidence.
4.) Zimmerman having all the injuries and injuries which spoke to a one sided attack.
5.) Trayvon's actions when witness 6 came out, as described by both he and Zimmerman. They speak to someone lost on violent rage, not someone merely seeking to subdue a threat and defend themselves who has just been presented with a third party who could assist.
6.) The dominant nature of Trayvon's position straddling Zimmerman. This fits more with a surprise assault of a vicious nature done out of anger and which has taken the victim off guard both in happening at all, and in how vicious and relentless it is. It fits less well with a give and take between two people.
7.) Zimmerman's terrified screams sand begging witness 6 for help fit better with a dominated victim who hadn't anticipated a physical confrontation, rather than someone who knowingly escalated by trying to detain, attack, or hold at gunpoint. His actions fit an overmatched person who was not in the right headspace for a physical fight but found himself in one anyway.
8.) The very fact that Zimmerman ended up shooting Trayvon is indicative. He's been calmly speaking on the phone moments before, as he voluntarily sought to alert, involve, and summon law enforcement to the scene. He was seeking to have THEM, not himself, resolve the matter. He did not sound agitated or angry on the phone to me, particularly toward the end as it became very casual and matter of fact. The worst he ever sounded to me was frustrated, when he first saw Trayvon run for it. Under these circumstances, what sort of things would need to happen in a mere two minutes or so from the call ending to get him to the point where he was willing to take the life of another human being whom he'd only suspected might be casing houses, up to that point? A vicious, relentless, terrifying and unexpected assault would fit the bill. A confrontation he had initiated and knew he had initiated, and which was of a character consistent with Trayvon merely trying to neutralize any threat he posed, which would be obvious to him, and which he knew would be settled soon and definitively by police hed summoned, is NOT consistent with him deciding to shoot another human being for the first time, and in the process put himself in enormous legal peril.
If Trayvon were just trying to stop this guy from accessing a weapon and harming him, I'd expect it to involve pinning his arms and asking "what the heck man?" and then calling out to John Good for assistance. Not wailing away on a prone, terrified, screaming victim heedless of his pleas, his not fighting back, and heedless of the witness's arrival and directive to cease.
9.) I also find compelling Trayvon's history of fighting, including him telling a female friend that he'd beaten a snitch but would be beating him again because the snitch's injuries hadn't been sufficient to satisfy his literal bloodlust, and another exchange where he affirmed that he wasn't merely a hoodlum but in fact a gangsta, and in which his friend cautioned him that his violent ways would result in him "getting one in yo chest" as the indeed did.
All this and more take me to a place of high confidence that he criminally assaulted Zimmerman and knew he was not justified in doing so by the standards of civilized people. Not certainty, but high confidence. Did he feel he was justified by his own lights? Probably. Does anyone ever not?
I also strongly suspect he knew exactly what Zimmerman's deal was, and that identifying himself was unnecessary. A concerned neighbor is just a fancy word for a nosy snitch in Trayvon's world.
