According to The Washington Post, one of the paper’s reporters, Jose A. DelReal, was “was barred from entering” a rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) after being “patted down by police.”

Trump and his campaign have waged a war on the media, which has included promising to “open up our libel laws” to more easily sue news outlets, threatening to retaliate against media outlets with the power of government agencies, issuing personal insults against journalists, and repeatedly suing or threatening to sue media figures. Trump has also shut out Hispanic media, giving only one interview to a Hispanic media network since announcing his candidacy, and revoked press credentials for various outlets, including The Washington Post. Most recently, journalists at the Republican convention expressed concern that Trump’s treatment of journalists show he is a “dictator-in-waiting.”

In the July 28 article, Post reporter Paul Farhi recounted how DelReal “was barred from entering the venue [of Pence’s campaign event] after security staffers summoned local police to pat him down in a search for his cellphone":

At Pence’s first public event since he was introduced as the Republican vice-presidential candidate two weeks ago, a Post reporter was barred from entering the venue after security staffers summoned local police to pat him down in a search for his cellphone.

Pence’s campaign expressed embarrassment and regret about the episode, which an official blamed on overzealous campaign volunteers.

Post reporter Jose A. DelReal sought to cover Pence’s rally at the Waukesha County Exposition Center outside Milwaukee, but he was turned down for a credential beforehand by volunteers at a press check-in table.

DelReal then tried to enter via the general-admission line, as Post reporters have done without incident since Trump last month banned the newspaper from his events. He was stopped there by a private security official 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 unidentified official replied, “Not if they work for The Washington Post.”

After placing his computer and phone in his car, DelReal returned to the line and was detained again by security personnel, who summoned two county sheriff’s deputies. The officers patted down DelReal’s legs and torso, seeking his phone, the reporter said.

When the officers — whom DelReal identified as Deputy John Lappley and Capt. Michelle Larsuel — verified that he wasn’t carrying a phone, the reporter asked to be admitted. The security person declined. “He said, ‘I don’t want you here. You have to go,’ ” DelReal said.

[...]

The incident involving DelReal marks another in a series of run-ins between the news media and the campaign.

In June, Politico reporter Ben Schreckinger was ejected from a Trump event in San Jose by a campaign staffer and a private security guard after he tried to cover the rally without the campaign’s permission. In February, a photojournalist from Time magazine, Christopher Morris, was roughed up by a Secret Service agent as journalists rushed to cover a protest at one of his rallies. And Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, yanked and bruised the arm of a reporter for Breitbart News, Michelle Fields, when she tried to question Trump after a speech in March.