Colorado student fears expulsion after glitter-bombing Romney

Following the Colorado Republican Caucus on Tuesday (won by a resurgent Rick Santorum as part of his three-state sweep), Mitt Romney spoke on the Auraria campus of The University of Colorado Denver (UCD). In the crowd waiting for him was twenty-year-old political-science student Peter Lucas Smith, a student at the school. Smith was there, along with some glitter, to protest not only Citizen Bain's stance on gay marriage, but also his "general political philosophy."

Unfortunately for Smith, his glitter-bombing attempt came up short, and he was quickly ushered away by Secret Service agents and local authorities. He was subsequently cited by Denver Police for several misdemeanors, including "creating a disturbance," throwing a missile," and "unlawful acts on school grounds." Smith faces up to six months in jail, and a $1,000 fine if convicted, but has no regrets and said this:

"I was thinking about how intuitive the idea of glitter is. It's very visible to a camera. It is very hard to deal with in the moment, especially when cameras are rolling, and it causes no physical harm."

He also said:

"For me personally, and for the people who share my political beliefs, I do believe it was worth it. However, I'm very concerned about my future, my political future, my career, my education, which I cherish more than anything else."

Smith did apologize for bringing any possible embarrassment to UCD, and man, this is not how you want your fifteen minutes to be. The "bombing" attempt did not go smoothly, and now you have to worry about getting booted from your school. The 'rents are not gonna be happy about this one.

These glitter-bombings are becoming more and more frequent, creating problems for security and people who have to clean up the mess. I'm not saying the growth of the phenomenon will necessarily coax glitter-bombing Travis Bickles from the woodwork, but nothing's really being accomplished, it starts to look like an act of petty revenge, and politicians (whether you disagree with their politics or not) have to worry about whether someone is attacking them with a weapon. (Obama is lucky he doesn't have to deal with the glitter.) Glitter-bombing started out with a positive intent, but it may have outlived its usefulness.