**Disclaimer: This article contains potentially disturbing images of clowns.**
In late August, stories of scary clown sightings began popping up all over the internet in the United States. Since then, the phenomenon has spread worldwide. The occurrences were even addressed in last week’s White House Press Briefing. There have even been sightings at Agnes Scott. Last Saturday, first-year student Carina Gold encountered a clown riding on a bike in the tunnel under the railroad tracks on E. College Ave.
The sightings began in early August in Greenville, SC when children at the Fleetwood Manor Apartment Complex reported a man dressed as a clown with a white face trying to coax them into the woods near the basketball courts. Shortly afterwards, residents began reporting sounds of chains, yelling, and lights coming from the woods. Police investigated the claims and confirmed that they were, indeed, real.
Often, the clowns carry weapons such as knives or large sticks. While many police statements have been released claiming that they doubt they intend to harm, there are very unsettling to the many people who spot them, and understandably so. No clowns have been reported inflicting direct harm, but many have been arrested for making threats to schools over social media, disturbing the peace, and trespassing. As a result of the threats, many schools have had to go into lockdown after students received threatening anonymous texts and Facebook messages.
In the UK, the Thames Valley Police Department received 14 reports of these menacing clowns within 24 hours. In a statement to the public, Chief Superintendent Andy Boyd explained how their fun could be harmful: “While we do not want to be accused of stopping people enjoying themselves we would also ask those same people to think of the impact of their behaviour on others and themselves. Their actions can cause fear and anxiety to other people, this could be perceived to be intimidating and threatening which could lead to public order offences, arrest and a criminal record. In addition, their behaviour is causing multiple reports to our call takers and is tying up police resources which could impact on calls to other incidents.”
The widespread hysteria has gotten a bit out of hand. People are reacting as if there are little John Wayne Gacy’s running around their towns. Even Stephen King, who’s 1986 horror novel follows seven children as they are terrorized by Pennywise the Clown, thinks it is time for the madness to stop.
As if these developments aren’t already absurd enough, the ‘Clown Lives Matter’ movement has emerged in order to counter public terror of clown attacks. The name of the campaign has received considerable negative feedback, as many believe it is insensitive to the Black Lives Matter movement. A Clown Lives Matter march in Tuscon, AZ scheduled for last Saturday had to be cancelled because the Facebook page for the event was flooded with threats and harassment. Organizer Nikki Sinn explained the cancellation in a post to the Facebook Event:
These disturbing clown sightings may have an affect on Halloween’s turnout this year. Many parents may be hesitant to let their children trick-or-treat since these occurrences will likely increase as the spooky holiday draws near.
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