A Secret Service spokesman told TPM Wednesday that agents responded properly when a man tried to toss glitter on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at a rally in Denver on Tuesday night.
Secret Service spokesman Max Milien said in a statement to TPM that “agents and local authorities can be seen reacting and taking appropriate action based on what occurred” in video of the incident showing authorities preventing a man from hitting the former Massachusetts governor with what appeared to be blue glitter. Authorities subsequently rushed the man out of the auditorium.
“The Secret Service trains personnel to respond to a wide variety of potential threats and incidents that could occur during protective operations,” Milien said. “The security advance process is a coordination between Secret Service, staff, event staff and local authorities to create the safest environment possible while preparing for any and all incidents that may occur.”
It’s not entirely clear what happened to the would-be-glitterer after he was hustled out of the room. A decision on whether to bring charges against him would be up to local authorities, and nobody from the Denver Police Department’s public affairs office picked up the phone Wednesday morning. [Update: 20-year-old Peter Lucas Smith has been issued a citation for the incident.]
Gay rights activists have repeatedly glitter bombed (or attempted to glitter bomb) various candidates for their opposition to same-sex marriage, but Tuesday’s incident is the first attempt on a candidate protected by a Secret Service detail.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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