If it looked bad on video, I promise you it seemed worse in person.

When a crowd of political supporters turns, the outcome is rarely pretty. And today, a Conservative crowd did just that, heckling reporters who asked questions about the refugee crisis, eventually knocking Stephen Harper off message.

This isn't the first time this has happened during the 2015 campaign.

When the Mike Duffy trial was underway, and reporters asked daily questions about the court case, they too faced boos and catcalls from Tory supporters.

Wednesday morning, Harper was taking part in a Q & A session moderated by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in the Niagara region. About 150 people watched as the Conservative leader answered questions ranging from tourism to education to business tax practices.

The media stood on risers, at the back of the room, clearly visible, and segregated from the crowd, which isn't necessarily unusual.

When it came time to ask questions, all eyes shifted to the back of the room. CBC asked the first English question, about refugees and Harper's concerns surrounding security.

He gave a similar response to what he's said from the start of the campaign; his plan isn't changing, and that security is important because these refugees are coming from a place where terrorists thrive.

I was up next, and also asked a refugee question: Is Harper open to considering speeding up his plan? I was given the same answer, with Harper mentioning he would expedite the process, but providing few specifics on how a conservative government would do that.

When reporters shouted follow-up questions (reporters at Conservative campaign events are only allowed to ask one question each, no follow-ups) the boos began. And when my colleague from The Toronto Star stepped forward announcing she had a follow up on the same topic, the boos got louder.

This was the TSN Turning Point.

As her question began, one man shouted over the crowd "How many kids drowned in pools in Canada last summer? Do you blame the government for that?" The supporter was referring to Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey, galvanizing global support for refugees and questions about how Canada is handling the crises.

As her question continued, the taunts didn't stop. Harper repeated his message about the crisis, and eventually left the room, ending the event.

Before the media availability began, reporters agreed that questions should also be put to Rob Nicholson, the Foreign Affairs minister. He helped host the event, and is a longtime member of parliament for the Niagara Region.

Nicholson hasn't said much about the refugee crisis publicly, and as foreign affairs minister, his perspective holds value.

Once the official event was over, several reporters and the camera crew started looking for Minister Nicholson. We could see him down a hallway, and so we tried to catch up with him. But we were abruptly stopped in our tracks, told we were not allowed to go behind the scenes at these events. Fair enough, would the Conservatives bring Minister Nicholson to us?

The response from Conservative campaign spokesperson Kory Teneycke was "I'm not going to answer that question on camera." So no dice.

Conservative campaign spokesperson Kory Teneycke after blocking journalists from speaking with Foreign Affairs Minister and candidate Rob Nicholson.

Still, we tried again. As handlers herded us away, my colleague spotted Nicholson from a distance, and asked if he would come and speak with us. He did not accept the invitation, and he slipped out a back door, avoiding questions about the crisis.

The format for Stephen Harper's press conferences, for the most part, has been to put the Conservative leader on a podium in front of a partisan crowd after holding a rally-type announcement.

This is not uncommon, the Liberals followed the same formula in Eastern Canada this week. I've yet to travel with the NDP, so i'm unsure first hand of how they're organizing their events. But what I can say, in terms of these events leading to distractions on the campaign, it appears the Tory availabilities are the ones that end up getting interrupted the most.

Stephen Harper's team had given us the heads up the night before that he would be delivering a message about economic stability. But that's certainly not what everyone is talking about after the unusual events on the campaign trail today.