The nationwide case of the crazy clowns continues to baffle Franklin police Chief Dave Goldstein, with Halloween just eight days away.
“I’ve seen these characters pop up on the news and I’m curious to know what’s going on,” Goldstein told me by phone recently. “What’s behind this? Is this just a gag? Is there a hidden statement here?”
If Goldstein can’t figure this out, who can? He’s got a Ph.D in psychology. He was a state trooper for 21 years. Now he’s Franklin’s chief, and he’s got no clue as to why people have chosen to clown around in this fashion since August.
That’s when the clown sightings began, some real, some internet pranks, all a pain in the butt for cops, who never truly know when someone’s crying wolf.
Kids have been scared, people have been arrested, schools have been locked down and police have been sent on wild-goose chases.
It happened in Concord earlier this month, when an officer and detective were dispatched to Penacook after a report of armed clowns in Rolfe Park. Police found a woman walking her dog. They have since identified a juvenile as the person who posted the false claim, and now they’re figuring out what to do with the minor.
“It has been referred up to our juvenile unit for review for possible petition,” Lt. Tim O’Malley of the Concord Police Department told me. “They review the case and make a determination as to whether or not the juvenile would be summoned to court, or if there would be an alternative such as juvenile diversion.”
Goldstein and O’Malley said their departments have not created a special clown crime unit or anything like that. But they hardly dismissed what’s going on as trivial, and hearing two grizzled police veterans commenting on clowns, looking up data on clowns, even saying the word “clowns,” is somewhat humorous.
But it’s not really funny.
For example, O’Malley cited an incident in Massachusetts last week, when a man wearing a clown mask drove behind a school bus full of children. The kids, one of whom was the man’s child, were terrified. The man was arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
“This guy apparently thought this would be humorous,” O’Malley said. “Given the environment in this country when it comes to schools over the last five years, there is certainly an intent to cause alarm. In that instance, it’s not simply the act of wearing a clown suit; it’s doing this deliberately to terrify a bus full of kids.”
O’Malley said a gray area exists here. It’s not illegal to wear a clown suit, of course, but you might be cuffed and hauled downtown if you wear one and behave in a threatening manner.
“Someone might call and say there’s a guy in a car in a clown suit,” O’Malley said. “Well, what’s he doing? If you pull him over and the guys says, ‘I’m a registered clown and I’m going to a birthday party,’ no crime there. But in Massachusetts, if we could prove he was doing it intentionally and his purpose was to alarm, we might be able to find probable cause and arrest him.”
Retail giant Target is being proactive, pulling scary clown costumes from its shelves. “Given the current environment, we have made the decision to remove a variety of clown masks from our assortment, both in the stores and online,” Target spokesman Joshua Thomas said in an email.
I visited Target, and sure enough, no clown outfits. There were scary costumes, like a shark and a vampire, and silly ones, too, like a slice of pepperoni pizza, a waffle, a banana peel and an ice cream cone.
At Goodwill I found a honking clown horn, a big red clown nose, black clown gloves and clown face paint, but nothing scary. A salesperson there told me it had nothing to do with recent clowning-around stories.
Wal-Mart had a killer bear mask, a crypt creature mask and the white, skeletal-like mask from the Scream movies, but no scary clown stuff. “We don’t have them,” a saleswoman told me, adding she had no idea why.
Over at Spirit Halloween, famous for its talking, screaming and moving animatronic characters (a jumping, screeching spider made me jump), evil-looking clown costumes and props were everywhere.
There are clown cleavers, clown machetes, a clown mask that looks like a member of the rock band Kiss and another with a huge gash on its forehead.
A clown prop hanging from a chain and swinging its legs back and forth said, “Hey, are you scared of clowns? Well, you should be,” followed by a blood-curdling laugh, followed by, “Come on, I’m just trying to make people laugh. Can’t anyone take a joke, ha-ha-ha!”
But can a joke go too far? Saleswoman Connor McWhorter thinks so. She moved to Concord from Texas a year ago. Both states vigorously defend Second Amendment rights, and McWhorter fears a wise-apple clown might cross the line.
“People are getting very concerned about it because there have been reports of (clowns) trying to lure kids into the woods,” McWhorter told me. “I have thought about the need to put up a sign saying, ‘Buy a clown costume at your own risk.’ People in New Hampshire and Texas are kind of itching to shoot anything. They’re probably going to be on high alert.”
O’Malley and Goldstein want you to have fun on Halloween, but they couldn’t deny that excessive clowning around could be dangerous for the clowns.
“I think it’s certainly a possibility,” O’Malley said. “I don’t want to discourage people, especially because it’s Halloween. My advise is be reasonable. It’s probably not a good time to be cracking those types of jokes in a clown suit. People in society right now are not in the mood for that.”
So what’s going on? How did this start and why? Goldstein wondered, “Is it just a reaction to the political debates?”
Perhaps. After all, we’ve got a candidate who sometimes wears an orange pantsuit and another whose hair sometimes appears orange on TV.
But whatever it is, the police want clowns and non-clowns to use good judgment during this spooky time of year.
“If something happens and it bothers parents or children, let us know,” Goldstein said. “I have no problem walking up to a clown and asking for ID. I might get a horn honk as a response, but I’m still going to ask.”