George Zimmerman, the man found not guilty in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is suing the slain child’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin; Rachel Jeantel, who was on the phone with Trayvon while Zimmerman stalked and ultimately killed him; civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, and others for $100,000,000.
According to the Miami Herald, Zimmerman’s lawsuit accuses each party of engineering false testimony and alleges defamation, abuse of civil process, and conspiracy.
The lawsuit cites allegedly newly discovered information presented in an upcoming documentary, The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America, directed by Joel Gilbert. The film makes the claims that:
“Based on Trayvon’s cell phone records, they allegedly show that Rachel Jeantel was not Trayvon’s girlfriend, was not on the phone with Trayvon before the altercation, and that she lied repeatedly to cause Zimmerman’s arrest and to try to send him to prison for life. The research also allegedly reveals that Trayvon’s real girlfriend and legitimate phone witness was in fact Miami resident Brittany Diamond Eugene, who was switched out for Jeantel when Eugene refused to bear false witness against Zimmerman.”
Of course, the first issue here—after getting past the fact that a man who targeted, stalked, and ultimately shot a child to death has the unmitigated gall to sue that child’s family and friends—is that Rachel Jeantel has always made it clear that she was not Trayvon’s girlfriend. The second issue is that Trayvon’s cell phone records, including all of his conversations with Jeantel were retrieved, and the times and phone number align with the time that Zimmerman made his first call to the Stanford Police Department.
It should go without saying that this documentary is rooted in neither truth, nor facts.