Post reporter barred from Pence event, patted down by deputies

Officials in Waukesha County scrambled Thursday to explain why a reporter from The Washington Post was barred from covering Mike Pence's first solo event as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Post reporter Jose A. DelReal went to cover Pence's rally Wednesday night at the Waukesha County Exposition Center, but he was turned away by volunteers at a press check-in table before entering.

It was the latest skirmish between GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's team and the national media. Several outlets have been barred from Trump events in the past.

'It's dangerous if you're going to try to limit who can cover your campaign,' said Kelly McBride, a media ethicist with the Poynter Institute. 'It's dangerous for democracy.'

After being rebuffed, DelReal tried to go through the general-admission line, as reporters who were banned from Trump's events last month have generally been able to do. He was stopped there by a private security guard who told him he couldn't enter the building with his laptop and cellphone.

When DelReal asked whether others attending the rally could enter with their cellphones, he said the official replied, 'Not if they work for The Washington Post.'

Other members of the public were allowed to enter with their phones.

DelReal placed his computer and phone in his car, returned to the line and was detained again by security personnel, the Post reported. This time the security personnel summoned two county sheriff's deputies, who patted down DelReal's legs and torso, seeking his phone.

DelReal identified the officers as Deputy John Lappley and Capt. Michelle Larsuel.

Deputy Inspector Torin Misko with the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department said Thursday that deputies were there to assist the Secret Service with security detail for the private event.

'The Secret Service conducted a security sweep of the area designated for the media per their standard operating procedures. The reporter from The Washington Post was not present for this previously scheduled sweep,' Misko told reporters at a Thursday afternoon news conference. 'The reporter attempted to enter the media area after the security sweep was conducted, and was denied access by event staff.'

Misko said event staff told DelReal that he could put his electronic equipment in his car and enter through general admission.

But Journal Sentinel reporters and photojournalists covering the event said the 'security sweep' was specifically for heavy-duty electronic equipment like TV trucks and equipment, while smaller electronics such as laptops and cellphones were checked up until about 15 minutes before the event began.

'A short time later, the reporter did come back through the general admission door and was stopped once again by event staff,' Misko said. 'Due to security concerns, the event staff requested that the reporter be patted down to ensure that prohibited electronic equipment was not being brought into the facility. At this time, the event staff asked two sheriff deputies who were assigned to a security post nearby to conduct a pat-down search.'

He said the reporter consented to the search, and the deputy patted him down and found no electronics.

'At that time, the reporter was allowed into the building by event staff. Several minutes did go by, and for unknown reasons to the Sheriff's Department, event staff escorted The Washington Post reporter from the facility,' Misko said.

When pressed about the incident, Misko added, 'We're here on behalf of the client.'

'The client came to the Sheriff's Department and said, 'We would like you to back us up in what's going on,'' he said. 'We didn't make a decision on what to do. It was the client that made that decision, and then we supported their request.'

Misko added that deputies wouldn't 'do anything that's illegal' on behalf of a client.

He said the department's only contact with DelReal was the pat-down search, and the office hadn't had a chance to talk to event planners about the reason DelReal was kicked out.

Misko confirmed that other members of the general public were allowed to bring cellphones into the event.

The security person involved wouldn't give the reporter his name and denied DelReal's request to speak to a campaign press representative, the reporter said.

'First, press credentials for The Washington Post were revoked by Donald Trump,' Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said. 'Now, law enforcement officers, in collusion with private security officials, subjected a reporter to bullying treatment that no ordinary citizen has to endure. All of this took place in a public facility no less. The harassment of an independent press isn't coming to an end. It's getting worse.'

Pence campaign officials initially said they were unaware of the incident when asked by the Post for comment Wednesday night, but later added that volunteers went too far and misinterpreted what they were supposed to be doing.

'Our events are open to everyone, and we are looking into the alleged incident,' Pence press secretary Marc Lotter said in a statement.

When asked for comment Thursday, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks directed questions to 'the Pence team.'

A Pence official did not return calls Thursday.

Media experts raised concerns about the situation.

The Poynter Institute's McBride said it's one thing to restrict access if there's limited space, such as when the White House designates specific 'pool' reporters to cover an event at a small venue and share it with other media outlets, but it's another issue to target reporters at a large campaign rally.

'It's a huge concern if someone running for president or vice president is going to ban reporters from reputable organizations. It's a huge concern that they would ban any reporters,' McBride said. 'It's easy to conclude that Trump and Pence, or at least their campaign machinery, are trying to limit access to certain journalists, or certain organizations, and that's a problem.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, said the incident is out of sync with Wisconsin's tradition of openness.

'It deprives the public of information to which the public is entitled,' Lueders said. 'I imagine that at some point the person was inspired or prompted by past exclusions of Washington Post reporters who were doing the job and revealing uncomfortable truths about the candidate.'

Trump said in June that he was pulling the Post's credentials to cover his campaign events because he was unhappy with the newspaper's coverage.

The Post is not the only media outlet that has clashed on the campaign trail with Trump, who also has barred reporters with Politico, BuzzFeed News, The Huffington Post and others from some of his rallies and events.

In February, a Time magazine photojournalist was roughed up by a Secret Service agent. The photographer was inside a pen holding media and had cursed at the agent who told him to stay in the pen.

In March, a CBS News reporter was detained while covering a protest following the cancellation of a Trump rally in Chicago.

Later that month, Florida police charged former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with simple battery after he grabbed the arm of former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and pulled her back as she tried to ask Trump a question.

In June, a Politico reporter was removed from a Trump event in San Jose, Calif., by a campaign staffer and a private security guard after he tried to cover the rally without the campaign's permission.