{"id":15169,"date":"2014-10-20T12:08:32","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T16:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=15169"},"modified":"2014-10-20T12:08:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-20T16:08:32","slug":"armed-clowns-spread-panic-in-french-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/armed-clowns-spread-panic-in-french-towns\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Armed Clowns’ Spread Panic in French Towns"},"content":{"rendered":"
The party is over for a fake clown who received a six-month suspended jail term Monday for threatening passers-by while in full circus garb, a disturbing trend terrifying towns in northern France.<\/p>\n
This fear of clowns, dubbed coulrophobia, has swept small towns in Pas-de-Calais in northern France where police report a wave of complaints over people dressed up as the tricksters and threatening passers-by.<\/p>\n
A 19-year-old young man was arrested on Friday after waving a stick resembling a long knife while chasing a group of teenagers, who had to seek refuge in a chip stand.<\/p>\n
He was also sentenced to 105 hours of community service and banned from carrying a weapon for five years.<\/p>\n
After receiving some 20 calls on Friday, police took to social networks to warn citizens to be aware of the trend.<\/p>\n
Using fake weapons these “clowns” have been “mostly spotted outside schools, but also on public roads, in bushes, in a square. Their targets are often young children or teenagers, but also adults,” a police source told AFP.<\/p>\n
“They take their inspiration from American horror movies,” the source said, adding that the trend appeared to have started from a Facebook challenge.<\/p>\n
The wave of clown threats even prompted the region’s local government representative Denis Robin to take to his official Facebook page to condemn “these misdemeanours”.<\/p>\n
“It is absolutely unacceptable that children are held hostage by such acts,” he said, warning that those guilty of using weapons could face three years in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,500).<\/p>\n
(AFP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The party is over for a fake clown who received a six-month suspended jail term Monday for threatening passers-by while in full circus garb, a disturbing trend terrifying towns in northern France. \u00a0Whether brandishing a rubber chicken at a children’s party or starring as the evil protagonist in a horror film, clowns have long had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3507,"featured_media":15170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n