February 1, 2012 3:34 PM

Mitt Romney glitter bombed, calls it confetti

By
Sarah B. Boxer
Topics
Campaign 2012

An activist, not pictured, throws a cup of glitter on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as he walks to the stage at the start of a campaign rally in Eagan, Minn., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.

(Credit: AP)

EAGAN, Minn. -- For the first time, Mitt Romney found himself on Wednesday on the receiving end of a shimmery welcome that's plagued some of his competitors - a glitter bomb.

Walking on stage for a rally in Eagan, a protester in the crowd tossed glitter on Romney, who was flanked by his wife Ann and son Josh. Romney smiled, told the man to raise his hand, and treated the action as if it was a result of his Tuesday victory in the Florida primary.

"Hey listen you guys, I'm delighted to be here with you, this is an exciting time, I'm happy for the celebration. This is confetti! We just won Florida!" he said.

He then said, "Oh I've got glitter in my hair. That's not all that's in my hair, I'll tell you that. I glue it on every morning, whether I need to or not."

According to a local reporter with WCCO, the protestor has glittered presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich. Erickson's motivations seem to lie with immigration - his father was reportedly deported to Colombia.

In addition to Bachmann and Gingrich, Rick Santorum has been the repeated target of glitter bombs by other protestors.

Securty forces removed the man from the crowd, where about 300 came to see Romney, who was joined by former Sen. Norm Coleman and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty.


  • Sarah B. Boxer

    Sarah B. Boxer is covering the Mitt Romney campaign for CBS News and National Journal.

Add a Comment See all 35 Comments
by noloyalisti February 3, 2012 1:48 PM EST
What a pretty Top 1% mannequin is Robmee. But he is just so ugly from the inside. Back in the old country we call these people like Mittens shysters.
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by Schooling69 February 2, 2012 4:55 PM EST
Wrong again little Rich man... What an ignorant is this Mitt Romney, the glitter bombed was because he is an homophobic, but they kept twisting the reality, they are all the same, rich politicians !!!
I must say that he is the perfect candidate to be humiliated by Obama, when he wins.
Do the republicans realized that everyone is looking for fear treatment to everyone else, not only as discrimination standars goes, but as reducing the gap between rich and poor? ... Equality is what will win the elections people!!!
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by noloyalisti February 2, 2012 2:29 PM EST
Robmee is the poster boy for the Top 1% Wall Street tax evaders. He is everything that has gone wrong with America with our political and financial system. Over 30 years of Reaganomics has destroyed most of what we once had. And now we have sleazebag, greasy, vulture capitalists like Mint RawMoney campaigning to finish the job. Unbelievable.
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by tsigili February 2, 2012 12:51 PM EST
The republican position against gays, means there is no gay in this country that supports republicans.

You cannot ostracize an entire segment of the population, unfairly, for religious based reasons, without having that entire segment of the population oppose you.
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by justamaz February 2, 2012 1:19 PM EST
Right, you cannot ostracize the religious conservative because they follow the beliefs they attain from the Bible. That's what you're saying, right?
by norcalruss February 2, 2012 4:37 PM EST
The GOP has ostracized Blacks, Hispanics, NON-christians, people opposed to anti-abortionists, people who side with SCIENCE over DOGMA, Iran, China, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Muslims, liberals, atheists, unions, OWS, and the poor. Why does it surprise anyone that these BIGOTS would ostracize gays?
by Alex Vallas February 2, 2012 7:11 AM EST
Foot and Mouth Disease surpasses his Flip-Flopping. He continually states Obama is out of touch with the public. This from a man who doesn't care about the very poor and makes $10,000 bets. This is a man who said he makes very little from giving speeches. That $350,000+ is a pittance. He claims he is one of the 99% by building another home -- this one in California to the tune of $12 million. Oh, and he tries to b.s. the public by making statements that he was worried about getting pink slips. From whom? His millionaire father. This guy is a #1 hypocrite. He didn't even want to mention that his father was born in Mexico until it was published by the news media. One really has to wonder how he made it as governor and was able to amass such a huge fortune. People should be worried -- even about his comments regarding attacking Iran. In the final analysis, it is very, very evident that the GOP came up with a bunch of losers no less so than Bushie and Cheney.
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by BartMaves February 2, 2012 6:41 AM EST
How is this any different from or worse than a pie in the face? It's the same middle-finger up to the person on the receiving end.

Considering how many unemployed Americans we have - between those who have lost jobs, and those who have come out of school unable to find work - I'm surprised that we haven't seen more of this sort of protest. In fact - in my opinion - the people who are now or have been occupying our parks would be far more effective if they carried out a campaign of disruption as well as or instead of their campaign of occupation.

Imagine this scenerio in Eagan, Minnesota, yesterday. You-know-who arrives at the podium - assuming there was one - and, just as he begins to speak, a half a dozen people with (till then) concealed cheapo confetti cannon let fire. Perhaps someone else with a Super Soaker - aimed at the speaker - joins the fun. Imagine the news footage. Imagine the response.

Would that not be the ultimate middle-finger up? Given what we've seen - of the folks in charge - would such a gesture not be justified?
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by msm_sucks February 2, 2012 5:55 AM EST
Assault? I liked it better when they threw eggs and gave them tar and feathers. But tar is expensive these days with the cost of crude and whatnot....
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by BvLTiv February 2, 2012 3:32 AM EST
Who cares that he called it "glitter"? Why the hell would you put that in a headline? It's actually assault, and considering that "Erickson" (does this person have a first name? Sarah, most real reporters actually proofread their work) has done this before, why isn't this person sitting in prison? After Tucson, do we really want this type of thing happening?! And if you don't think this is assault, try throwing a cup of glitter on a cop and see what happens to you.
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by norcalruss February 2, 2012 4:56 PM EST
Shut the hell up! Glitter isn't assault because it can't hurt anyone, it's protest. R U as dumb as a box of rocks or a bag of hammers? Now if someone threw a hammer or a rock THAT would be assault.
by ProgressNow February 1, 2012 11:34 PM EST
He looks so pertty with the sparklie hair doooooooo....
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by BvLTiv February 2, 2012 3:22 AM EST
***???
by starving1968-3 February 1, 2012 11:26 PM EST
He then said, "Oh I've got glitter in my hair. That's not all that's in my hair, I'll tell you that. I glue it on every morning, whether I need to or not."





Instantly, the movie "Something About Mary" comes to mind......
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