Have you been hearing the news reports of clowns menacing people in cities across the country? We think the trend started off with some jokesters who wanted to dress like creepy clowns and freak people out. The news started covering it and it seems there are a lot of copy-clowns around who are maybe taking things too far.
As long as someone is just standing under a street light, for instance, or walking up and down the street not bothering anybody, there’s not much you can say or do about it, whether the person wants to dress like a rodeo clown or like Superman. But, some of these clowns do seem to be trying to use their clown cover as a front for threatening behavior that crosses the line.
In Belmont County, Ohio, three people were arrested for carrying weapons along a highway. A few people called 911 and led to their arrest. One 19-year-old was carrying a hatchet, which cops considered a concealed weapon. An 18-year-old was charged with carrying a laser pointer. That resulting charge was “inducing panic.” Another 19-year-old, however, was carrying a handgun in his waistband.
We also just heard about a woman in Maine who was menaced by a clown while she was sitting on her porch about 5:30 pm on October 5. According to news reports, she was sitting on her porch when a clown in the backseat of an SUV made a gun shape with his fingers, pointed them at her and mouthed the word “bang.” The 49-year-old woman was not identified in the news reports, but she said the clown had a red Afro wig on and a red nose. “The smile was creepy — the painted-on one.” He was wearing a “clown-looking shirt/costume,” and his neck was white, she said.
It’s close to Halloween, so at first, she says, she didn’t think much about it. When the clown mouthed “bang” though, things changed for her. “I picked up my 9 mm — I didn’t point it at him directly,” the woman said, “and said, ‘Back at ya, clown.'”
The SUV then left the area, but the woman says she had a feeling as if something bad was going to happen. We hope that the clowns across the country take this as a lesson. Scaring people with a sense of fun is one thing, but remember….many of those people are armed. And, we hope that this clown trend ends soon because it’s putting pressure on law enforcement officers who must put effort into sorting out harmless clowns from real threats.
