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Kim Kardashian Flour Bombed As Protesters Step Up Assaults

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on March 23, 2012 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Kim Kardashian was hit with a ‘flour bomb” Thursday night -- the latest in a series of benign celebrity “bombings” that can technically be considered assault and battery.

Kardashian showed up at the West Hollywood launch party for her new perfume and was walking down the red carpet when a protester threw a bag of flour at her, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kardashian, covered in white powder, was quickly ushered to safety.

It's not clear why the flour bomber attacked Kardashian. But the use of benign substances to “bomb” celebrities and public figures seems to be on the rise -- and legal consequences can follow.

Kardashian's flour bombing incident is similar to a series of "glitter bombings" across the country. Glitter bombers, however, have largely limited their assaults to conservative politicians who speak out against same-sex marriage.

For example, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was glitter bombed twice last month while campaigning, the Times reports. One bomb missed, but the second assault successfully dusted Romney's hair with glitter. The candidate shrugged off the attack, but the Secret Service sprang into action.

The man who allegedly threw Mitt Romney's glitter bomb -- Colorado University student Peter Smith, 20 -- was taken into custody and charged with causing a disturbance and throwing a "missile." Smith was also fired from his internship with the Colorado State Senate, the Associated Press reports.

In addition to general disorderly conduct-type charges, which make it a crime to disturb the peace or behave in a disruptive manner, glitter and flour bombers can also possibly face assault and battery charges.

In general, an assault occurs when a victim is placed in imminent fear of unwanted physical contact -- even contact with flour or glitter -- while battery is the completed act of an offensive touching. But many states no longer differentiate between the two.

In Kim Kardashian's flour bombing incident, the perpetrator was detained by police -- then released after Kardashian declined to press charges, the Times reports. "Like I said to my makeup artist, I wanted more powder," Kardashian joked after the attack.

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