Trick or Treat: Mississippi County Doesn't Clown around with Halloween Costumes
![handle is hein.journals/miscollr36 and id is 272 raw text is:
TRICK OR TREAT?: MISSISSIPPI COUNTY DOESN'T CLOWN AROUND
WITH HALLOWEEN COSTUMES
AUSTIN VINING *
I. INTRODUCTION
It all started at a Greenville, South Carolina apartment complex when a few
children saw a clown with a white-painted face trying to lure them into the
woods.' Another complaint came when a parent from the same complex saw
several clowns in the woods flashing green laser lights before running away.2
Then another woman claimed to see a clown with a blinking nose waving at her
from beneath a streetlight.3 Back at the apartment complex, residents reported
sounds of chains and banging noises coming from the woods.4 A separate
group of children claimed clowns attempted to draw them into the woods with
money.5
These events all took place in August 2016,6 but by October of the same
year, the clown craze had become an international phenomenon.7 In the United
States alone, citizens had reported clown sightings or threats in forty-eight states
as of October 10, 2016.8 The epidemic even brought about a statement from the
White House. Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at a recent conference,
[o]bviously, this is a situation that local law enforcement authorities take quite
seriously . . . [a]nd they should carefully and thoroughly review perceived threats
to the safety of the community.9
Indeed, with the epidemic sweeping the nation, authorities found
themselves placing some menacing clowns behind bars. A fifteen-year-old girl
faces charges in Minnesota for making online threats through a Facebook
* Graduate Research Fellow, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, University of Florida,
Gainesville, Fla. B.A., 2014, Psychology, Louisiana Tech University; B.A., 2014, Journalism, Louisiana Tech
University; M.A., 2016, Meek School of Journalism and New Media, University of Mississippi; Ph.D. Student,
Mass Communication, University of Florida. Formerly, Vining was a journalist with The Oxford (Miss.) Eagle
and The Vicksburg (Miss.) Post.
1. Doug Criss, South Carolina clown sightings: Creepy menace or unfunny hoax?, CNN (Aug. 31,
2016, 1:26 PM), http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/health/clown-sightings-trnd/index.html.
2. Id.
3. Id.
4. Id.
5. Id.
6. Id.
7. Jeremy Berke & Christina Sterbenz, Here's everything you need to know about the 'creepy clown'
sightings sweeping the nation, BUSINESS INSIDER (Oct. 10, 2016, 6:23 PM), http://www.businessinsider.com/
what-you-need-to-know-about-creepy-clowns-2016-10.
8. Id.
9. Ben Guarino, The creepy clown crisis: White House defers to FBI. Stephen King hits 'hysteria.'
WASH. POST (Oct. 5, 2016), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/05/scary-
clowns-spread-white-house-weighs-in-on-creeps-and-stephen-king-defends-the-good-
ones/?utm term=.7ca56632d8ff.
350](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/miscollr36&div=19&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Trick or Treat: Mississippi County Doesn't Clown around with Halloween Costumes
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most