As usual the media trying to place blame on Juggalos and trying to drive internet traffic on our trending names!
As Reported on the Decatur Daily:
Decatur police and Decatur City school officials say they have received reports of social media accounts involving “Klown” or “Clown” that are aimed at creating chaos and disruption in the schools and community.
“At this point, the information we have does not lead us to believe that any of these messages are credible threats,” said Decatur police Lt. Proncey Robertson.
He said he believes the social media accounts, some of which appear to have been created by current or recent Decatur-area students, are about causing chaos.
“While there are some concerning comments from these accounts, this is more about creating public concern and disruption of school and government operations than a credible threat or safety concern,” he said. “The anonymous accounts are set up to cause disruption.”
He said people should not accept a friend request from any Facebook or other social media account if they do not know the real name of the account holder. Also, he asked that parents and guardians check to see if their children are involved in promoting the activity.
“Do not share or repost any messages as if it were credible unless you know the original source of that information,” Robertson said. “To do so only creates more public concern and adds confusion about what is truth and what is being done about the threat.”
Robertson said “creepy clown” reports are being called into the police department as well as local schools. The number of calls increased Sunday, he said. None of the sightings have been confirmed.
“Photos of clowns in a car, in a park, wherever can be found on the internet,” he said. “Just because you can find photos of just about everything on the internet doesn’t make it real.”
Dwight Satterfield, supervisor of operations and safety for the Decatur City Schools, said the system has received about a dozen reports concerning clowns.
“We had an increase in reports dealing with clown sightings, threats, messages and texts,” Satterfield said. “We take reports of threats and suspicious activity in and around schools seriously.”
He said the system has had reports of some students pranking others about being targets of clowns.
Satterfield said he believes the clown activity may be coming from fans of the musical group Insane Clown Posse. The group’s followers are called Juggalos and in the past have promoted violence, according to reports. The band is touring in the Southeast with an Oct. 4 date in Nashville and Oct. 8 date in Birmingham.
Four people, including three juveniles, were arrested late last week in Flomaton in southwest Alabama after Klown postings caused a lockdown at several schools Thursday.
Flomaton police said Makayla Smith, 22, was charged with making a terrorist threat, a felony. Investigators said she posted threats to the Flomo Klown and Shoota Clown Facebook pages, which led to the lockdowns.
“The authorities are taking this type of social media activity very seriously,” Robertson said. “And we will prosecute anyone who participates in any activities that create any public disturbance or disruption of government operations such as school activities.”
He said anybody with information on the source of such accounts should contact police or school officials immediately.
