Glitter-bomb suspect freed with citation
The man accused of throwing a glitter bomb at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday night was released after being questioned by Denver police and the Secret Service.
Peter Lucas Smith, 20, was detained after he threw blue glitter at Romney as he was shaking hands with a crowd at the Auraria campus, said Sonny Jackson, spokesman for the Denver Police Department.
The glitter missed the former governor of Massachusetts, but Smith was quickly removed from the room. Romney was in Colorado for Tuesday’s Republican caucuses, where he finished second behind Rick Santorum.
Smith was issued a citation for causing a disturbance by throwing a missile and unlawful acts on school grounds, Jackson said.
Authorities questioned Smith, issued the summons and released him.
It was not immediately known whether Smith was a student at the campus.
Santorum seeks Indiana primary ballot spot
INDIANAPOLIS —Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum filed Wednesday to get on Indiana’s primary ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.
Indiana Election Division co-director Brad King said the Santorum campaign filed Wednesday morning to get on the ballot. The Santorum team is disputing a decision by Marion County officials last week that he fell 24 signatures short of the number required.
Santorum would make it on the state ballot unless a registered voter files a challenge before Feb. 17, said King, who is the Republican co-director of the election division.
Gingrich prefers to focus on Iran
In his only public appearance the day after his drubbing in Colorado and Minnesota, Newt Gingrich said nothing about his standing in the Republican presidential race or his rivals for the nomination and made only a passing reference to President Barack Obama. Gingrich changed the subject to foreign affairs and issued a dire warning about Iran’s potential nuclear capabilities. He told a Cleveland audience the U.S. could pay a terrible price if Iran develops nuclear weapons and said that’s why it’s important to have the strongest possible national security.
Pro-Santorum super PAC says donations surge
WASHINGTON —A day after Rick Santorum scored a trio of upset victories, a super PAC working on behalf of the GOP presidential hopeful said it was flooded with calls from donors who wanted to back its efforts.
“We’ve been working at a speed faster than any other day the super PAC has seen in this election season,” Stuart Roy, a political adviser to the Red White and Blue Fund, wrote in an e-mail. “We haven’t made a single fundraising call today because potential donors have been the ones calling us.”
He declined to say how much money the super PAC — which raised $729,000 last year — had received in new commitments. The organization has spent nearly $2.2 million on Santorum’s behalf so far. Its major benefactor has been Foster Friess, a wealthy former mutual-fund investor based in Wyoming who joined Santorum on stage at his victory party in Missouri on Tuesday night.
Denver Post staff and wire services
