No, not even this creep. (Photo: Graeme Maclean/CC BY 2.0)
Police in Orem, Utah would like to make it clear that neither they, nor you, can legally shoot random clowns. With the increasing number of creepy clown sightings across America this may actually be an important message.
From Texas to Connecticut, sightings of strange clowns are on the rise, and accordingly, police officers are now in a position to have to deal with them. The clown epidemic has also hit Utah, and in the wake of a series of online threats posted by some self-identified clowns, some people are getting scared.
Luckily the police officials in the city of Orem, Utah are keeping a level head about it all, and would prefer if citizens did too. In a recent Facebook post, the department addressed the issue in a statement that begins, “Here's seven words we never thought we'd be saying.....’Let's have a serious talk about clowns.’”
From there they go on to remind concerned citizens that while they will show up if someone reports seeing a suspicious clown in the area, there is really not much they can do if the bozo isn’t breaking any laws. It isn’t illegal to dress up like a spooky circus freak.
However, they also don’t rule out that they COULD shoot a suspicious clown, but they just say that it’s complicated.
“‘Can I shoot or take action against someone that is dressed up like a clown?’ That's not a simple yes or no question. It has a lot of variables to it,” the statement says. They also link to the Utah laws regarding use of force against another person, in case anyone is still having trouble deciding whether they should enact some vigilante justice against clowns.
Whether you think the creepy clown fad is hilarious, unsettling, or just dumb, the use of force against them is not recommended. If you find them suspicious, just call the cops. “This goes for when you see, Joe Citizen in a dark parking lot or someone dressed up like a Clown.”