In a bizarre trend that is sweeping across the United States, individuals dressed as clowns have stricken fear into communities, including some right here in Connecticut. The State Police, along with our municipal police partners want to remind everyone of the consequences associated with these incidents.
Over the last few days, reports of clown sightings in Connecticut have popped up in communities around the state. While it is not illegal to dress as a clown, it is illegal to do so with the intent of causing alarm. Individuals dressing as clowns and engaging in threatening or alarming behavior will be immediately addressed by law enforcement. Moreover, creating social media pages inciting violence or alluding to creating fear in our communities will not be tolerated and will be handled as criminal matters. We want to remind everyone that your online actions are not anonymous; we will continue working with social media companies to identify those inappropriately using social media to cause panic. At least five individuals have already been taken into custody in our state for engaging in this behavior.
There are many other emergencies and calls for service that troopers and other first responders need to get to without being misdirected to a prank. These incidents are similar in swatting to the swatting incidents we’ve dealt with in the past where resources are carelessly misdirected. Situations such as these waste valuable resources and can lead to injuries to both first responders and members of the public. These clown pranks can cause major disruptions leading to schools, businesses and neighborhoods being placed into lockdown unnecessarily.