Update: Did student banned from Paul Ryan event plan glitter bombing?
Update:After we wrote about six different students who were banned from attending Congressman Paul Ryan's speech in Lakewood yesterday, an anonymous source sent us a screenshot from one of their Facebook pages that mentions tomatoes and glitter bombs. The image seemingly contradicts claims by at least one of the students that he didn't plan to cause a scene. See it below.
Big photos below.
This screenshot from the page of Alexandra Coulter (below) -- the first person we talked to today, who supports Obama but wanted to hear Ryan speak -- includes a conversation in which friends suggest she bring a glitter bomb and a tomato to the rally. In the first exchange, a post reads, "Glitter bomb!," to which Coulter replies, "Ooo! Where do I get one?" Later, another post suggests that she "bring a tomato." To that, she replies, "Will do!"
If these kinds of posts were seen by the campaign, it's possible that the students could've been flagged before the event rather than being expelled after being overheard speaking to yours truly. And we know, as we reported earlier, that a Romney campaign volunteer did comment on the status of Jacob Spetzler, another student who was banned, warning him that protesters would not be allowed to attend.
But all the students we've talked to say they had no intention of protesting or heckling and brought no signs or any other materials to protest. They planned to just listen.
When contacted Tuesday afternoon about the Facebook post, Coulter said she sees how the post could be misleading but insists that everything posted was sarcastic or silly. "I wouldn't do that," she says, referring to glitter bombing or throwing tomatos. "What am I going to do? Get arrested...That was all silliness...I definitely had zero plans to do that."
Look through the back-and-forth for yourself here:
Romney's campaign declined to weigh in on the issue, though after our inquiries about these students' claims, Ciara Matthews, Colorado communications director for Romney, sent this unrelated statement:
Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan bring bold leadership and decades of experience to the Presidential race that is exciting voters across Colorado. Today's event was a successful opportunity for Congressman Ryan to take the Romney-Ryan ticket's message of turning the economy around and strengthening the middle class straight to the voters of the Centennial State.
Click through to read our earlier coverage.
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