It appears that, once again, President Donald Trump's rhetoric and demonization of the media has resulted in real life confrontations from his supporters.
This time it reportedly happened to Empire Magazine's entertainment reporter James Dyer during a customs check at LAX airport.
It began when Dyer presented his journalist visa to a Customs & Border Patrol Agent, who responded by calling him a member of the "fake news media," a term practically coined by Donald Trump.
It all went downhill from there.
Wow. Just... wow. Just went through LAX immigration. Presented my journalist visa and was stopped by the CBP agent… https://t.co/kF5oAK7hUL— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566508459.0
He wanted to know if I’d ever worked for CNN or MSNBC or other outlets that are “spreading lies to the American peo… https://t.co/h80w9gv5lR— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566508460.0
Turns out the agent knew where to find "real news."
@jamescdyer/Twitter
Dyer literally just wanted to write about Star Wars.
@jamescdyer/Twitter
The fact that I had been watching Years And Years on the plane made it particularly poignant! This isn’t news but t… https://t.co/tG3O20uGG2— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566508941.0
After the thread went viral, Dyer hopped back on to make some clarifications.
To clarify for those (kindly) saying this was illegal detention, I wasn’t detained or taken into a room. This all h… https://t.co/z2zp4zZTe5— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566512247.0
- Yes it did happen (and calling this fake news in itself is more irony than my jetlagged mind can take).— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566518210.0
- No I wasn’t mistreated or detained in any way. Questions at customs are to be expected while fingerprinting etc i… https://t.co/c8ILrzZvio— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566518210.0
- No I didn’t get his name or make a complaint. As I said, he didn’t mistreat me so while I despair that an officia… https://t.co/ygP6DaonoR— James Dyer (@James Dyer)1566518211.0
While Dyer stressed that the behavior was startling and unprofessional, but not illegal, people were still flabbergasted.
@jamescdyer Sorry this happened to you, fam. Wish I could do anything about it.— Tip Shenanigans (@Tip Shenanigans)1566562377.0
@jamescdyer Wut?????— DC native (@DC native)1566564962.0
@jamescdyer this man needs to be FIRED asap https://t.co/jbnc0PzfdL— felicia (@felicia)1566562725.0
So unprofessional.
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