The first documented clown sighting in the United States this year occurred as early as August 1st, according to International Business Times, and since then has spread across the nation, popping up in many rural and urban neighborhoods, as well as college campuses.
On October 4th, New England College was added to the long list of colleges, including UNH and Keene State, where there have been alleged sightings of clowns.
At 12:31 a.m., Henniker PD received a call detailing the presence of a clown around Rowe Hall. Both police officers and campus safety officers searched on and off campus for the suspect, but found nothing except a toy double edged axe and a Jason-like mask. According to Henniker’s Chief of Police, Matthew French, it is unclear whether the items had anything to do with the call, considering it was a clown mask that was reported.
Later that day there was a second call regarding a suspect knocking on an apartment door located near the pharmacy; the residents went to the door and saw a person dressed all in black with a white clown mask, red nose, and red afro wig. Again, both police officers and Campus Safety officers searched, and again found nothing.
There was some concern that this was all hearsay, that someone knew someone who knew someone who witnessed the clown, but “with two reports of it from two different sources, it gave it some credibility, that there was someone running around being foolish,” said Campus Safety Director Scott Lane.
Then, at 8:00 p.m., a third call came in about a person in a clown mask walking around Town Hall, and again officers were sent, and again no suspect was found.
Mike Taberski, Dean of Students, sent out an email that afternoon, alerting students of the situation and asking them to step forward if they have any information, but also to be smart and “help keep our Pilgrim community safe.”
“It’s sad that we have to be so serious about something so ridiculous, but we’re not happy this is happening,” said Taberski.
“I’m especially not happy,” he continued, “and I share the sentiments of the HPD and Campus Safety, that they wasted a lot of time on this.”
Although this whole ordeal was a “colossal waste of time,” according to Chief French, the real concern is that someone is going to end up getting hurt.
“I guess there are people that are absolutely deathly afraid of clowns,” French began. “I am not one of them, but I certainly understand that it’s creepy, and when you do this kind of activity, you’re exposing not only yourself but other people to danger, whether it’s how they’re going to react when they see something stressful like that, or like, in this case, what I see happening, is you knock on the wrong door and some athletic college students chase you down and beat the crap out of you.”
“I’m not so concerned with arresting someone and charging them, I’m really concerned that someone’s going to get hurt,” he continued.
Though safety is the number one priority, Director Lane wants students to take this seriously and know that this kind of behavior falls under disorderly conduct, which is “appearing in a public place with a function that serves no legitimate purpose.” So, if a student is caught doing this, they will be arrested.
With Halloween coming up, there is national concern that people dressing as clowns will insight some sort of violence. When asked if Campus Safety will put a ban on the clown costume, Lane said no, but he’d “rather not [arrest you]; there’s plenty of other characters you could go as this year, other than a clown.”
Chief French shares his sentiments: “Don’t do it, don’t be a part of it, and if you know someone that’s a part of it, either convince them to not do it, or give [us] a call, before it gets out of hand.”
