Police vow to crack down on ‘illegal’ scary clowns

Police vow “illegal” clown impersonators will be met with “strict and uncompromising police enforcement,” as children in clown masks frightening people after dark put many Israelis on edge.

In a Facebook post, police describe the recent phenomenon as part of an “international trend that has gathered momentum on social media” and say they have detained “many youths” dressed up as clowns throughout the country.

Describing the youths’ actions as “an illegal act,” police say violators “will encounter strict and uncompromising police enforcement” and call on parents to ensure “their children are not taking part in the phenomenon, which may embroil them in criminal proceedings.”

Police also warn the clowns could be mistaken as a “credible threat” and end in youths being harmed. Police ask the public “not to take the law into its hands and not to harm the youths” since the majority of their antics do not result in any harm to peoples’ persons or property.

— Alexander Fulbright