Well, one of us sure missed it.
When you used the word "or" there, you left the door open to either a comment or an action setting him off. You probably didn't mean to, but you raised an issue here and I'm responding to it.
Is there or is there not any justification whatsoever for this girl being punched in the face? If not, then mentioning what may have set the guy off, predicates his action on something she did. Thus it would be at least somewhat understandable.
My take on it is that it is never appropriate for an adult male to hit a 14 year old girl in the face. And while you probably didn't mean to imply it was okay, trying to explain what set him off is an unreasonable thing to do, when nothing short of her pointing a gun at the kid would actually be something that should set him off.
It's like us trying to explain what a wife did that justified her husband beating her up. Unless she was a continuing threat to him or their children, it's not going to fly.
You and I probably have a fairly close opinion of what took place, but I'm not going to spend my time giving this guy cover of any kind.
I completely intended to open a door to understanding what set him off. A good hunter needs to understand his prey.
Some seek to understand the world and not just react hysterically to it. Doing so increases your likelyhood of living longer.
I am not concerned with justifications, only root cause and effect.
Your emotions are getting the best of you here, claiming I implied that it is ok for an adult man to hit a 14 year old.
Trying to understand the reason for what he did is exactly the reasonable thing to do, by definition.
Punishment is someones elses purview.