Rachel Jeantel Gives First Interview Since Testifying, Offered Full Ride to College

By: Taren Vaughan

The Rachel Jeantel Piers Morgan interview had people all over the country glued to their televisions as many wanted to know how the prosecution’s star witness felt about the outcome of the trial and the criticism she has received over the testimony she gave during her trips to the stand. Last night, a very calm and relaxed Rachel Jeantel, along with her attorney Roderick Vereen, sat down with CNN’s Piers Morgan for her first interview since testifying on the stand in the Trayvon Martin murder trial. And Rachel got the chance to address some of the things that have been said about the validity of her testimony, her communication skills and how the tragic death of her friend Trayvon has affected her.

On her reaction to George Zimmerman’s acquittal:

“Disappointed, upset, angry, questioned and mad.”

On the jury believing the screams on the 911 tape were coming from George Zimmerman and he acted out of self-defense:

“BS. Just BS.”

Despite what the jury or anyone else believes, Rachel says:

“He [Trayvon] was trying to get home. And he was and that’s a fact.”

Rachel says she talked to Trayvon on the phone often and describes what kind of person he was:

“He was a calm, chill, loving person, loved his family, definitely his mother and a good friend.

“[We talked about] what we’re going to be in life, how life’s going to happen, what’s going on currently around that time [Trayvon was killed.] And mind you, around that time, both of our birthdays had passed, so we were talking about what happened.”

Rachel also says she never saw Trayvon lose his temper or be aggressive towards anyone.

On people trying to paint Trayvon as a thug based on the things he posted on his social media accounts:

“First of all, Trayvon is not a thug. They need to know a definition of a thug to be judging a person, well a teenager. Mind you, a teenager can post anything, even I post anything, to just brag. That’s just a brag. It’s not true.”

Although Rachel says she never heard Trayvon talk about guns or saw him with one, she says Trayvon did smoke “Mary Jane” a couple of times a week but it only made him hungry, not crazy.

On how defense attorney Don West treated her during her time on the stand:

“I’m gone have to say, he lucky I’m a Christian.”

On the negative comments people have made about the way she speaks:

“A lot of people have the same issue I have right now. I had this situation since Kindergarten. I have an under bite. A bone they gotta push back. I gotta have surgery to push it back. And right now, I don’t wanna do it ’cause it take a year to heal. A lot of people have that situation. Words I can say, it can’t come out right.”

On her feelings about taking the stand during the trial:

“It’s not that I didn’t want to be there. It’s a lot of stress. I was dealing with a lot of stress for sixteen months I think…I was grieving. And I had to deal with [this] around February. My birthday, his birthday, now a death. My mother birthday, his mother birthday, a lot of birthdays up in there, so death creeps me out. I don’t do death at all. I even told my parents ‘I’m not going to the funeral. I’m not doing none of that.’ I don’t like funerals.”

On how the news of Trayvon Martin’s death affected her:

“Shock. It’s like ‘Wow.’ You can’t believe what just happened. You were just on the phone with the person. And he sound normal and then a situation happened. And then I’m finding out two days later he dead. And then I had to be by a friend telling me ‘Oh, do you know he died at 7:17.’ And I had to look at my phone and my phone say 7:16. And people got the nerve to tell me ‘Oh why I ain’t come to that funeral?’ I didn’t put Trayvon at that funeral. I didn’t put Trayvon in that casket. That’s what people need to understand. I did not plan for that week to be at a funeral. That day, I was so shaken like ‘Wow, this really happening? He really dead?'”

On her feelings about Juror B37 talking about her lack of education and communication skills:

“Angry, upset. And when the state closed and they tried to explain what kind of person I am, you can see the kind of person I am. I never cussed out Don [West.] Since March, I’ve been dealing with Don Weston [sic]…The only reason I have not said nothing to Don Weston [sic] ’cause my parents taught me better. That’s an adult. You don’t have the right to disrespect an adult. Don’t curse, I did give attitude but that’s me.”

On the jury’s confusion over the “Creepy A*s Cracka” comment:

“The jury, they see their fact. None offense to the jury, they old. That’s old school people. We in the new school, our generation, my generation.

“[Cracka] is a person that act like a police, a security guard…That’s why I said to them Trayvon said ‘Creepy A*s Cracka’…And he keeps telling me the man [George Zimmerman] still watching him. So if it was a security guard or a policeman, they would have come up to Trayvon and said ‘Do you have a problem? Do you need help? like normal people.”

Rachel thinks the situation between George Zimmerman and her friend Trayvon would have gone a totally different way had Zimmerman introduced himself as a neighborhood watch volunteer instead of following Trayvon without identifying himself. She also says Trayvon was supposed to leave the day he was killed.

On what she thought was going through George Zimmerman’s mind when he made the “These a*sholes always getting away” comment:

“I’m finally gone get one…It was racial. Let’s be honest, racial. If Trayvon was white, and he had a hoodie on, would that have happened? That was around 7:00. That’s the time that people walk their dogs, people still outside, all that.”

On the jury thinking race played no part in the case:

“Mind you, they’re white, well one Hispanic, but she’s stuck in the middle…I had a feeling it was gonna be a not guilty…They understand that ‘Oh, he was just bashed or he was killed.’ When somebody bash somebody, like blood people. Trust me, in the area I live, that’s not bashing. That’s whoop a*s. You just got your a*s whooped.

“In my mind, before his death, Trayvon still thought I was on the phone, I could’ve called for help or something, but I wasn’t on the phone…Trayvon had an Android. If you just click on the Android, that could end the call. And there was a struggle so somebody had to have been on top of Trayvon.

“For every boy or man who’s not that kind of way, to see a grown man following them, would they be creeped out? So you gotta take it as a parent, when you tell your child ‘When you see a grown person following you, run away and all that.’ Are you gonna stand there?”

In related news, radio host and philanthropist Tom Joyner is doing an incredibly nice thing for Rachel as he is offering her a full scholarship to any HBCU of her choice, according to Black America Web:

Tuesday morning on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Joyner offered an olive branch to the embattled teen, offering her a possible full scholarship to any HBCU through the Tom Joyner Foundation.

Joyner proclaimed, “Hi Rachel, this is Tom Joyner, I love you, I really do love you”, Jeantel, shyly giggles before responding, “I know.”

But, Jeantel didn’t know how much she was loved because, Joyner was soon to dramatically change her life in a matter of minutes, saying, “If you want to graduate from high school, and go to an HBCU, even if it’s not in Florida but especially Florida, like Florida Memorial, Edward Waters or FAMU, if you want to do that, I want to help you do that.”

Joyner did not only offer his assistance in college, he wants to help her get there, adding, “I will help you get tutors to get you out of high school, tutors to help you pass the SAT and I will give you a full ride scholarship to any HBCU you’d like.”

Jeantel, who we later learned was in shock from the offer, simply responded “thank you.”

Later in the interview, Jeantel hinted that she might pursue a career in law enforcement but she reminded Joyner and the crew she “doesn’t like bodies” or funerals.

What a blessing.

Check out the clips from Rachel Jeantel’s interview with Piers Morgan below: