?A childhood fear has become a reality. There has been a tremendous outbreak of clown sightings all over the United States. It started in late August, there have been various reports of clowns threatening mainly schools and colleges.

Law enforcement has dismissed these threats as a hoax, however multiple people have been arrested in connection with these sightings. Even if it is just a simple joke, threat, or actual sightings, schools, law enforcement, etc. have to take this seriously as it can be a huge threat to the citizens safety.

Clowns seem so harmless as they are usually the main entertainment at a child’s birthday party. However, some are not so joyful as they seem. There has been some murderous clowns such as John Wayne Gacy also known as “the killer clown” or “pogo the clown”. John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer that was an entertainer as a clown that murdered 34 young men in the 70s.

People are taking this hysteria as a joke, but unfortunately there has been another person dead because of a clown. A 16-year-old boy from Reading High School in Eastern Pennsylvania was stabbed to death during a fight that broke out after someone showed up wearing a clown mask. The police was called to the scene after responding to a report of a person lying on a front porch of a home, and that there was a large crowd surrounding the incident.

Police Chief Andres Dominguez Jr. spoke his thoughts about this tragedy:

“I believe the issues got out of control. Everyone in the neighborhood knows each other.”

Despite the tragic incidents that has happened with clowns most of the threats turn out to be a prank. Clown sightings appear to be a huge thing in social media, therefore some people are more scared to get out of their house or are inspired to go “clown hunting”. Some young people will take the risk of going out in public and scaring others in order to gain fame in social media.

Two seventeen year old male high school students were arrested after wearing a clown mask while driving around Central Lafourche High School. The teens were charged with violating a law in Louisiana which prohibits the wearing of a mask in public outside of holidays.
Sheriff Webre of Louisiana warns those who are thinking of disguising themselves as clowns and making threats in the future:

“Clown or not, anyone making threats of violence to others in any form, including social media, will be investigated. We have a great track record of working with social media outlets to identify perpetrators, even when they open an account under anonymity. The bottom line is we will find you, and you will be charged. We will not tolerate anyone terrorizing our community and especially our schools.”

These clown sightings are all over the country and even the UK. From Britain, England to New York, clowns are making their appearance in woods and parks to either scare people or lure young children to follow them. It has been reported that as Halloween gets closer and closer clown sightings are going to be much worse. However, most states and schools have banned people from wearing clown costumes outside of holidays and on Halloween.