Doug Mastriano's militia-linked security team physically blocks non-supporters from getting anywhere near him

Right-wing gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano hasn't been spending money on television advertisements or speaking to mainstream media outlets, and he's not even interacting with Pennsylvania voters as he travels the state.

The state senator keeps himself walled off from the general public with a nonprofessional armed security team with links to militia groups and the deeply conservative LifeGate church, and their manner is so gruff and condescending that some people who encounter them wonder if they're joking around -- but they are most certainly not, reported the Inquirer.

“What was the question that you shouted?” said campaign videographer Jeremy Oliver to a woman who asked something about Jan. 6. “Did you make a statement?”

Oliver, who was wearing a Captain America shirt, has been paid about $82,500 by Mastriano's campaign to record video and provide security, and he threatened to have the woman "escorted out" of the event before learning that she was a supporter who had mentioned the day of the insurrection because she, too, was at the U.S. Capitol that day and saw the candidate there.

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"I’ve tried numerous times," said Salena Zito, who writes for the conservative Washington Examiner, "and was told publicly at an event two weeks ago in Pittsburgh by his campaign strategist that because I had not written anything nice about him, I would not be granted an interview until I wrote something that was."

Mastriano's slogan is "walk as free people," but the retired U.S. Army colonel keeps himself physically walled off from reporters and potential voters by campaign aides and his security team, who warn event attendees “not to engage with Doug or Rebbie," his wife, even as he makes bold proclamations from the stage.

“No longer will you have a governor reigning over you with terror and fear,” Mastriano said, as his security guards physically blocked journalists from getting closer.

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