The south of France had to deal with a series of crimes committed by offenders who dress up as a clown. In Montpellier there was a 35-year-old man in the night beaten with an iron bar thirty times.?In other villages in the same region three drivers were attacked by “clowns”. A clown also turned a?car to scrap. He was arrested and declared that it was a hype on social media.
Social networks have been awash with chatter about “evil clowns” after a number of recent incidents in France. The subject is among the top trending topics on the social platform Reddit. Police in Agde arrested 14 teenagers who were dressed as clowns wielding pistols, knives and baseballs bats. And in Bethune, in the north of France, a 19-year-old was sentenced to a suspended jail term for threatening passers-by while dressed as a clown.
Why are people dressing as clowns and behaving this way? Police in France believe the internet has played a pivotal role. “Since mid-October, there’s been a rumour inspired by videos shared on the internet, which is worrying people about the presence of threatening and aggressive clowns in France” said a police statement.
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Fear has increased. Some French people go so far as to head out on the streets,?heavily armed to hunt for clowns. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement that people should not be fooled by the clown hysteria and that in most cases it is a joke. And real clowns are also a victim of all this attention.
“Almost everyone is afraid of clowns”, says psychiatrist Damien Denys. He is a professor specializing in anxiety. According to him, there are several reasons for why?we fear?clowns. “A clown wearing a mask shows?no facial emotions. We find that very threatening, because we want someone to respond when we say something. Additionally clowns are very unpredictable. We have no control over them and we find this unpleasant. ”
The media have also contributed to the overall ‘clown hate’, says Denys. “Clowns, in recent years, are often represented as a terrible monster. He is no longer the fun friend for children as we used to know him, but a figure in horror movies and books.” This blog holds?an overview?of the scariest clowns from films.
Maar ook Denys zegt dat we niet echt bang moeten zijn voor de ?killer clowns?. ?Er zijn een aantal filmpjes verschenen op internet van jongens en meisjes die het leuk vinden om elkaar bang te maken, waarbij ze soms grenzen overschrijden. Maar zolang het bij bang maken blijft, moet je er gewoon niet naar kijken. En als je wel zo?n clown tegenkomt, begin dan gewoon te lachen. Want dat willen ze helemaal niet.?
De clowntrend lijkt te zijn overgewaaid uit Amerika en Engeland. Verschillende media schrijven dat het is begonnen met Twisty, een clown uit de serie American Horror Story. De? @RealWascoClown?claimt verantwoordelijk te zijn, maar volgens de politie is er geen bekende connectie.??I am the creepy, evil-looking clown that is roaming the streets of Wasco, California at night. Come Find Me I will give you a balloon,? zegt het account.?Wasco is ongeveer twee uur rijden van Los Angeles
?Anyone, aggressive clowns or clown hunters, found in possession of a weapon in a public place will be arrested and can be held in police custody,? staat in een verklaring van de?politie.
In?Britain the phenomenon has emerged too.
It’s like a scene from a horror film.
Residents of a California city are being terrorized by people dressed as clowns, some reportedly wielding machetes or baseball bats, police said.
“There’s a natural phobia of clowns,” Sgt. Joe Grubbs of the Bakersfield Police Department told ABC News today. “And, clearly, if someone is dressed up as a clown and holding a weapon in a threatening manner, that’s going to frighten people.”
There have been 20 sightings in a week, but only one clown has landed in cuffs. Bakersfield police arrested one juvenile last week for allegedly chasing other juveniles while in a clown costume. The 14-year-old suspect, who wasn’t armed, told police he was participating in a hoax he had seen online.
Social media accounts using the name “Wasco Clown” claim to be linked to the pranks, but police said they were unaware of any connection. Instagram photos show scary clowns posing in different landmarks in Wasco, Delano and Bakersfield, and the snapshots include taunting captions like “come out and play” and “It’s funny you guys think I got arrested.”?Other residents have reported seeing the scary clowns armed with a machete or baseball bat, Grubbs said, but police haven’t apprehended any clowns with weapons.
Sgt. Ian Chandler of the Kern County Sheriff’s Department in Wasco says his department has also received several phone calls about scary clowns. He suspects the social media accounts are just “copycats” who heard about the sightings, which may have been sparked by a couple dressing up as clowns for an art project, he said.
The @RealWascoClown Twitter account also claims responsibility for the scary sightings, though police say they know of no connection.?”I am the creepy, evil-looking clown that is roaming the streets of Wasco, California at night. Come Find Me I will give you a balloon,” the account says.
The use of frightening clown imagery online is an international trend. Earlier this month in the US, there were several reports of scary clowns in California, Florida and New Mexico. Photos of clowns were shared on social media accounts using the name “Wasco Clown”.
The Wasco Clown was was originally an art project featuring photos of an anonymous clown in the town of the same name. It inspired copycats, with some sharing disturbing images of clowns in intimidating scenarios. Social media accounts using the Wasco Clown name built up a following on Twitter and Instagram. There was also on a tribute Facebook page. There is no confirmation that these accounts are connected to incidents reported to police, and some are no longer accessible online.
Countless videos of scary pranks involving clowns are also being shared on YouTube – one of which has been viewed over 29 million times. This video shows a staged but violent attack by a clown in front of unsuspecting passers-by.
Social media is also being used as part of a counter movement. In France, police say groups are organising online to track down the clowns and they’re taking the matter very seriously. “Anyone, aggressive clowns or clown hunters, found in possession of a weapon in a public place will be arrested and can be held in police custody,” said a police statement. They’ve urged the public to stop spreading rumours online and have issued information on how to send an alert about an aggressive clown.
It is like scene from a horror movie:
And possibly this prank video caused for a lot of ideas:
Many Instagram?photos have now been removed. There were clowns in Wasco, Delano and Bakersfield, features lyrics like “come out and play” and “It’s funny you guys think I got arrested.” The “evil clowns” are a trending topic on Reddit?and Twitter. There also was a Facebook page?and there are many videos on YouTube, one is even viewd 29 million times.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, it also occurred. For example, a 22-year-old man was?sentenced to community service because he jokingly scared cyclists in Katwijk. Two friends who were filming the action received the same punishment. The man from Katwijk?was?dressed and made up as a clown on the night of 24 April. He hid in the bushes besides?a bicycle path and jumped out with an ax in his hand whenever?cyclist past by. The friends were filming how he ran up menacingly and went after the scared cyclists.
Three victims called the police and told that they had been terrified and did?not realize that this was a joke. The three offenders had a company that puts videos on the internet, which can be viewed at a charge. Justice had demanded a higher penalty than the 100 hours of community service and two-weeks suspension in prison?that they got.
The town of Nieuwegein had a clown with a hatchet. A clown with an ax in his hand ran after someone. The chase ended in a bus stop. People were shocked and policemen joined the scene. It turned out to be part of a TV recording, and the ax was made of plastic. The two TV makers were?fined for disturbing public order. “This is just dangerous,” said a police spokesman. “What if a cop shoots someone down because of the threat.”
Also in Breda there was a clown?joker. Teens in Breda South are already two weeks under the spell of a horror clown. The Lawrence Elementary School in has informed parents of the 118 children with a letter.
The stranger, who wore a hood, suddenly put his hood off and after girls would see the face of a terrifying clown. He had a white mask, bulging eyes and his mouth seems drenched with blood. The five girls put it on a scream and were cycling as fast as they could to get?home. The mysterious clown stays behind and made no attempt to go after them.
A day later the mother of one of the girls called the police. Police?claims to take seriously the matter, but there’s nothing they can do. On social media and in school classes the stories are now getting wilder. One tells that she has walked in the woods with her father and has heard people screaming. Another clown is said to have struck again and this time stabbed someone in his arm.
Sources: Connexion France, De Standaard, BBC, NOS?(1,?2), NOSop3, RTVUtrecht, Omroep Brabant, BNdestem