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OK this is just...creepy. Clowns themselves are creepy and should be attacked on site. If a clown appears while I'm walking Team Wienie behind the school, watch out because I'm throwing a chainsaw biting wiener dog RIGHT AT YOUR FACE. Pennywise will never know WTF hit him.
It was near 10 a.m. Tuesday morning when man spied clown. The clown wore typical big-tent get-up — a wig of red curls, too-big shoes, blue pants and a shirt with yellow polka dots — topped off with a scary mask, as the witness would describe to Greensboro, N.C., police. The regularly dressed man, for his part, held a machete.
Knife in hand, he ran after the clown, Greensboro police said, causing the jester to flee into the woods. The witness called the police dispatcher, who told him to put down the blade.
“Officers searched the area,” the Greensboro police said in a news release Tuesday afternoon, “but were unable to find anyone matching the description.”
The incident seems to follow a script that has repeated itself several times over in the area since late August: Witnesses phone local police to report a menacing clown or clowns, but officers cannot verify the sightings. A few weeks before the North Carolina sighting, a family in Greenville, S.C., told authorities a clown tried to lure their children into the forest near their apartment, as The Washington Post reported. Another witness told police he had spotted a clown near the dumpsters of the same complex.
Since the late summer, there have been about a half-dozen reports of clown sightings. Mashable recently mapped the alleged sightings along the border between the Carolinas, forming a sort of harlequin triangle between Greenville, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C.
The lack of police confirmation has cast doubt on the existence of these clowns. And if they are real, the reason for their existence is just as perplexing. Some speculators have put forth that the clowns may be a viral campaign — possibly for “31,” a new horror movie directed by Rob Zombie featuring homicidal carnival workers.
(If so, it would not be the first time a wandering clown was revealed to be a promotional stunt. At the beginning of August a Green Bay, Wis., actor copped to walking through the city dressed as a clown holding black balloons as part of an audition for a film. He did not get the part, according to the Associated Press.)
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
In the North Carolina counties, costumes are not verboten — but officials are encouraging residents to resist putting on clown gear.
“Although it is lawful to dress as a clown, given the heightened tensions about these entertainers, officials are discouraging ‘copycat’ behavior by individuals who may find it humorous to mimic suspicious behavior,” Greensboro police said in a statement issued Tuesday. “Copycats unnecessarily alarm the public and place an unnecessary drain on police resources.”
As reports of sightings continue, working clowns have distanced themselves from the creepy kind, which the entertainers see as antithetical to the true spirit of clowning.
David McCullough, a Texas performer known professionally as Kornpop the Klown, wrote in an email in response to The Post’s earlier Carolina clown coverage, “I have worked very hard all my life to be a person that kids and their parents respect and can look up to.”
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Some are saying it's some sort of guerilla marketing campaign linked to Rob Zombies new movie about killer clowns that terrorize a small town. Makes sense, but this could also just be a bunch of nutjobs
jreilly89 wrote: Some are saying it's some sort of guerilla marketing campaign linked to Rob Zombies new movie about killer clowns that terrorize a small town. Makes sense, but this could also just be a bunch of nutjobs
That makes sense in countries that aren't the USA, in the USA it sounds like a very dangerous marketing campaign given the populations' penchant for shooting each other.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/07 13:41:01
Frazzled wrote: Clowns themselves are creepy and should be attacked on site.
Damn, off-site attacks would be much easier.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
I've heard nothing about a machette before. Or might be some people watched to much Steven King's IT.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/07 13:49:40
Poor ignorant guardsmen, it be but one of many of the great miracles of the Emperor! The Emperor is magic, like Harry Potter, but more magic! A most real and true SPACE WIZARD! And for the last time... I'm not a space plumber.
Could be random stuff like this video, once something has been posted to Youtube people want to copy it. This one is already a couple years old. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt, and by hurt it probably means somebody getting shot.
The Grumpy Eldar wrote: I've heard nothing about a machette before. Or might be some people watched to much Steven King's IT.
I just went back and looked for the story. It was apparently a man chased away one of the clowns, with a machete, not the clown chasing someone with a machete.
The same story does say that a clown tried to lure two children into the woods with candy.
jreilly89 wrote: Some are saying it's some sort of guerilla marketing campaign linked to Rob Zombies new movie about killer clowns that terrorize a small town. Makes sense, but this could also just be a bunch of nutjobs
Clown meet Smith & Wesson. Seriously clowns those creepy ers!
The Grumpy Eldar wrote: I've heard nothing about a machette before. Or might be some people watched to much Steven King's IT.
I just went back and looked for the story. It was apparently a man chased away one of the clowns, with a machete, not the clown chasing someone with a machete.
The same story does say that a clown tried to lure two children into the woods with candy.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/09/07 14:04:04
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
stanman wrote: Could be random stuff like this video, once something has been posted to Youtube people want to copy it. This one is already a couple years old. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt, and by hurt it probably means somebody getting shot.
This times 1000.
Just like that idiot that pulled that stunt after the "Miami Zombie Incident". It was all a barrel of laughs until somebody pulled a gun on him.
I don't know how people over in Greensboro handle things like this. But here in Columbus County, it's a good way to get your ass whipped (at best), or shot (at worst). People here, myself included, don't play.
I never liked clowns. Happy I don't live around there.
I've read other bizarre news articles today. Like this one... and the guy who got his junk stuck on some ikea stool in the shower and went to complain. The article was hilarious.
Poor ignorant guardsmen, it be but one of many of the great miracles of the Emperor! The Emperor is magic, like Harry Potter, but more magic! A most real and true SPACE WIZARD! And for the last time... I'm not a space plumber.
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
Why is it illegal in the states to wander around dressed as a clown? I would have thought it none of the police's business how you choose to dress.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/07 14:31:52
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
Why is it illegal in the states to wander around dressed as a clown? I would have thought it none of the police's business how you choose to dress.
Because clowns are crazy creepy and all good red blooded Americans will begin stoning them with the beer cans and freedom fries to drive away the evil commie clown demon.
Plus clowns are obviously French. It is wrong to be French.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
Why is it illegal in the states to wander around dressed as a clown? I would have thought it none of the police's business how you choose to dress.
Dressing like a clown and walking around isn't the issue here. It's dressing up like a clown and behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner.
If this was on Halloween, many wouldn't bat an eye, even if holding a machete, unless the culprit clown was directly threatening somebody or prowling after dark. But Halloween is still over a month away.
This was a case of people being stupid, and playing a prank that alarms the public. THAT the authorities have a problem with.
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
Why is it illegal in the states to wander around dressed as a clown? I would have thought it none of the police's business how you choose to dress.
Dressing like a clown and walking around isn't the issue here. It's dressing up like a clown and behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner.
If this was on Halloween, many wouldn't bat an eye, even if holding a machete, unless the culprit clown was directly threatening somebody or prowling after dark. But Halloween is still over a month away.
This was a case of people being stupid, and playing a prank that alarms the public. THAT the authorities have a problem with.
So do the police in the states have the right to arrest someone based upon what they are wearing? I mean, if a bloke chooses to loiter in a clown suit late at night, that's actually illegal and a crime that you can be arrested over?
Greenville police announced Thursday that anyone dressed like a clown and terrorizing residents will face arrest. “It’s illegal. It’s dangerous. It’s inappropriate, and it’s creating community concern, so it needs to stop,” police chief Ken Miller said at a news conference, according to Greenville Online.
Why is it illegal in the states to wander around dressed as a clown? I would have thought it none of the police's business how you choose to dress.
Dressing like a clown and walking around isn't the issue here. It's dressing up like a clown and behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner.
If this was on Halloween, many wouldn't bat an eye, even if holding a machete, unless the culprit clown was directly threatening somebody or prowling after dark. But Halloween is still over a month away.
This was a case of people being stupid, and playing a prank that alarms the public. THAT the authorities have a problem with.
So do the police in the states have the right to arrest someone based upon what they are wearing? I mean, if a bloke chooses to loiter in a clown suit late at night, that's actually illegal and a crime that you can be arrested over?
Normally, no. The cops might pull up on the clown to check them out, and make sure they are not up to no good. But it, within itself, isn't against the law if they are not trespassing.
But you are missing the key point here:
behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner
These pranksters (if that is indeed what they are) are behaving in such a manner. Lurking around dumpsters, reported attempts to lure kids into the woods, and scaring a dude enough to where he chases said clown with an edged weapon falls into that category. There may be no ill will on the part of the clowns, but somebody could still get hurt.
Normally, no. The cops might pull up on the clown to check them out, and make sure they are not up to no good.
How would you check up on that? Here in the UK, I'm under no obligation to tell the police anything if I choose not to. I don't have to identify myself or state my business. If the police want to arrest me, they need to have a 'reasonable suspicion' that I'm about to commit a specifically 'arrestable' offence, and be able to specify what that is and why. Is it different in the US? Checking on wikipedia, you don't even seem to have a law against loitering?
behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner
These pranksters (if that is indeed what they are) are behaving in such a manner. Lurking around dumpsters, reported attempts to lure kids into the woods, and scaring a dude enough to where he chases said clown with an edged weapon falls into that category. There may be no ill will on the part of the clowns, but somebody could still get hurt.
As far as I can ascertain, all they're doing is standing around. What time of the day and location is again, of nobody's business but their own surely? I mean, the one chasing strangers down the road with a machete sounds more dangerous to me than a guy standing there in a clown suit. 'Luring kids' is a different kettle of a fish, but that seems to be the only potentially troublesome (and therefore arrestable) one that I can ascertain, and that's because of his actions rather than the suit or location.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/07 15:52:52
We need a clown wall to better implement a new clown immigration policy. Until such time as immigrant clowns have been extensively vetted - I like to all it "extreme vetting" - new immigrant clowns will no longer be permitted entry into the US.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Loitering/prowling/menacing is illegal whether you wear a clown costume or not. By itself a loitering charge won't mean much as its really just a way to allow cops to make people move along, break up crowds etc. to discourage individuals and small groups from engaging in criminal enterprise or to disrupting an active criminal enterprise ie street gangs set up on corners to sell drugs.
How would you check up on that? Here in the UK, I'm under no obligation to tell the police anything if I choose not to. I don't have to identify myself or state my business. If the police want to arrest me, they need to have a 'reasonable suspicion' that I'm about to commit a specifically 'arrestable' offence, and be able to specify what that is and why. Is it different in the US? Checking on wikipedia, you don't even seem to have a law against loitering?
Simply go up to them and ask. Most of the time when I did, I was polite and conversational about it. As in: "Hey there, how are you? Everything okay with you this evening?" You don't have to suspect anybody of a crime to check up on them, to make sure everything is alright. It's part of a concept called "community policing" here in the States.
As for reasonable suspicion, somebody standing around in a random neighborhood at 2 A.M., in a clown suit, would constitute reasonable suspicion that SOMETHING is going on, based on the situation. It's something uncommon and suspicious, outside of Halloween, in most areas. Something like that warrants the police to check it out, especially if residents are calling in complaints. "Reasonable suspicion" isn't usually a reason to arrest around here (detaining on the spot for a short period to check things out is acceptable). That would require the "big brother" of reasonable suspicion known as "probable cause", which reasonable suspicion can turn into real quick.
Loitering is an offence in many local jurisdictions. But you are correct that it's not typically one that warrants arrest within itself. Usually, it involves citations and fines (or a warning if the officer is feeling charitable)
As far as I can ascertain, all they're doing is standing around. What time of the day and location is again, of nobody's business but their own surely? I mean, the one chasing strangers down the road with a machete sounds more dangerous to me than a guy standing there in a clown suit. 'Luring kids' is a different kettle of a fish, but that seems to be the only potentially troublesome (and therefore arrestable) one that I can ascertain, and that's because of his actions rather than the suit or location.
It depends. And it does warrant police at least checking things out if it's out of the ordinary and involves complaints. The role of the police is to also keep the peace, not just enforce statutory law. And sometimes you catch people up to something in the process. I've stopped and checked up on many an individual just loitering around in odd spots at odd times. Once, some years back, I saw a guy just standing around on the side of a major highway, just outside of the local John Deere dealership, just after 3 A.M. After several passes by myself and one other officer, we stopped to check up on him. After a few minutes of basic, conversational questioning, the other officer decided to circle the dealership. His patrol car's spotlight caught four youths attempting to steal parts off of a large tractor. They bolted, but I manged to snag the guy on the side of the road. It turns out that he was a lookout (just not a very good one). He sang and the local Sheriff's Department managed round up the punks that ran.
So, as you can see, it does pay to check things out in circumstances such as "simple" loitering during odd hours, in unusual locations, and under unusual circumstances (in the case in the OP, numbnuts dressed up as creepy clowns). It could very well be part of something more sinister and/or illegal.
Normally, no. The cops might pull up on the clown to check them out, and make sure they are not up to no good.
How would you check up on that? Here in the UK, I'm under no obligation to tell the police anything if I choose not to. I don't have to identify myself or state my business. If the police want to arrest me, they need to have a 'reasonable suspicion' that I'm about to commit a specifically 'arrestable' offence, and be able to specify what that is and why. Is it different in the US? Checking on wikipedia, you don't even seem to have a law against loitering?
behaving in a suspicious, menacing, or threatening manner
These pranksters (if that is indeed what they are) are behaving in such a manner. Lurking around dumpsters, reported attempts to lure kids into the woods, and scaring a dude enough to where he chases said clown with an edged weapon falls into that category. There may be no ill will on the part of the clowns, but somebody could still get hurt.
As far as I can ascertain, all they're doing is standing around. What time of the day and location is again, of nobody's business but their own surely? I mean, the one chasing strangers down the road with a machete sounds more dangerous to me than a guy standing there in a clown suit. 'Luring kids' is a different kettle of a fish, but that seems to be the only potentially troublesome (and therefore arrestable) one that I can ascertain, and that's because of his actions rather than the suit or location.
A community has had an issue with a specific problem and the individuals have been consistent in dress. The police have made it clear that harassment, threatening, trespass, etc. are unacceptable (and are, generally crimes). If someone is dressed in an unusual manner, such as a clown outfit, in an area where individuals dressed in such manner have been engaging in prohibited behavior, that starts to look suspicious. Other factors such as time of day, attempts to hide, complaints, etc. will come into play as well. The police could certainly ask him what's going on, why he is dressed like that, etc. regardless. Such an encounter is referred to as a consensual encounter, and the citizen is free to leave or not answer. If the officers learned particular facts that lead them to believe that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, they may detain him for investigation.
Some states have laws requiring identification to officers upon request. Generally, a request for a person's name is not a 4th or 5th Amendment violation and most state's make providing false information a crime.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
Eh, I don't think Stephen King's that ballsy. They did the same thing with that Carrie coffee shop stunt, but even that was more tame with preset actors and cameras. They didn't chase people, try to lure kids with money, etc.
We need a clown wall to better implement a new clown immigration policy. Until such time as immigrant clowns have been extensively vetted - I like to all it "extreme vetting" - new immigrant clowns will no longer be permitted entry into the US.
#Frazzled for Dakkadakka President 2016.
We don't need no illegal clownage here.
Eh, I don't think Stephen King's that ballsy. They did the same thing with that Carrie coffee shop stunt, but even that was more tame with preset actors and cameras. They didn't chase people, try to lure kids with money, etc.
Oh boy. I do hope you mean the publisher who does the new IT movie. Don't wan't a zombie Stephen King walking around.
I do doubt this thing is part of a viral thing though.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2016/09/07 19:41:27
Poor ignorant guardsmen, it be but one of many of the great miracles of the Emperor! The Emperor is magic, like Harry Potter, but more magic! A most real and true SPACE WIZARD! And for the last time... I'm not a space plumber.
if its a viral campaign (I doubt it. I think its pranks) then they'd better stop. Someone is going to die.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
All fun and games till they appear scary, armed, and at night and someone is armed.
They put some 9mm holes in said clown and that's a rather sad prank because it cost someone there life.
If you see em creepy, at early hours with a machete.
Your not going to go and ask.. Why hello what are you doing here.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/09/07 21:45:06
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
Especially in areas where people are already cautious because of the local crime rates. We had two murders in my home Country in the last month, one of them involved somebody familiar with my family for years (she was stabbed to death by her sorry ass grandson, who also stole her car, her phone, and already had a felony record). We also have issues with auto/equipment/boat theft, grand larceny, "copperheading" (theft of copper), burglary, B&Es, theft, domestic stalking, and the occasional home invasion (most of it fueled by alcohol/drug abuse,gang activity, and good old fashioned pure sorriness). And this is in a predominately rural county. It wouldn't do for anybody to pull a Pennywise around here.
My anti-clown artillery piece that sits next to my laptop at night and when I'm at the house alone:
On a more humorous note, my sister hates clowns as much as Fraz does. She believes that they are evil incarnate, and that they warrant a 40k style purge. She can't even watch horror movies with clown imagery.
~1.5k
1K Vostroyan Firstborn
2K Flylords
600 Pts Orks
3K Ad-Mech 
clowns those creepy 
