Our normal review of the Elitist Media evening news presented us with something so rare it may as well have been a unicorn. When’s the last time you saw a super-clean report on ANYTHING having to do with a Stand-Your-Ground case?
And yet, that’s exactly what happened at the CBS Evening News. Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on the CBS Evening News on Thursday, September 3rd, 2026:
UNICORN: @CBSEveningNews demonstrates the proper way to report a Stand-Your-Ground case (To wit: Broward County, FL drops charges against the woman that shot a man dead at a Walmart parking lot.) pic.twitter.com/cb1QVTz3ws
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 4, 2026
TONY DOKOUPIL: Let's turn to South Florida, and newly released video from a shooting earlier this summer at a Walmart parking lot. The prosecutor says the woman who gunned down a 62-year-old man at point-blank range, killing him, is not facing charges. CBS's Jason Allen has the explanation and the video, which is disturbing.
MELISSA PAYNE: I was going to back it to that spot.
JASON ALLEN: New video released by the Broward County State Attorney shows the moments after a woman fatally shot a man over a parking spot outside a Walmart, to explain their decision not to charge her.
PAYNE: (unint) …what are you going to do, what are you going to do?
ALLEN: It happened in June. Melissa Payne was driving the car circled in yellow. And Bart DiGuglielmo was in the SUV, both going after the same spot. She ended up with it. And after parking several rows over he came back and began threatening her, according to witnesses. For about a minute and a half, she pointed a gun at him while backing away before firing one shot into his abdomen. She was briefly taken into custody.
PAYNE: I told him, “It's not going to go well for you. Please.” All the guys telling him: “Sir, sir, it's not worth it. Leave her alone."
ALLEN: Prosecutors today cleared Payne, based on Florida's Stand Your Ground law, saying the State would not be able to overcome her claim that she was in fear of great bodily harm.
The family of DiGuglielmo has been pushing for charges since the shooting happened, saying it was not self-defense. The toxicology report showing he had amphetamines, THC, and anti-depressants in his system. Tony.
DOKOUPIL: Jason. Thank you.
A Florida “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) case is normally viewed by the Elitist Media as an opportunity to wax hysterically about guns. More often than not, abuses of SYG are presented as serious defenses, which then gives the media an opportunity to further argue against the statute.That’s not at all what happened here. Per the statute:776.012 Use or threatened use of force in defense of person.—(1) A person is justified in using or threatening to use force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. A person who uses or threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use such force.(2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.The report corroborates that this is what happened here. Correspondent Jason Allen showed video of the deceased man aggressively stalking the woman, even as she had a handgun trained on him. He then cited the prosecution’s rationale for dropping the case, which is that “he would not be able to overcome her claim that she was in fear of great bodily harm.” There was no anti-gun editorializing, just simple reporting of the facts on the ground. Allen then closed his out report by pointing out that the decedent had amphetamines, THC, and antidepressants in his system. The end result is a super-clean report that came out the exact opposite of what the Elitist Media normally do in cases like these- a report as rare as a unicorn sighting.
