Quote from: Winy on October 06, 2016, 01:05:50 PM

As far as I know, it's just a bunch of people dressing up as clowns to fuck with everyone (Which, honestly, I think is hysterical).

Being scared out of your mind in the middle of the night is just so funny

It absolutely is, as long as nobody is getting hurt. If some goofball wants to dress up as a clown and spook some kids on a college campus, let them. It's near Halloween, so people should expect that some get a little more into the spirit of the holiday than others. Harmless fun that you're easily going to laugh at in the future.

People nowadays are way too paranoid, and way too sensitive.

EDIT: Apparently, some of the people dressed as clowns have gotten the shit beat out of them. That's pretty fucking stupid, people need to relax.

we had a bunch of clowns on my campus last night. this girl me and my friends were with last night called campus police and had to waste our time talking to them. we went out looking for the clowns through the night.

No one should be forced to "get into the spirit" of a holiday that revolves around fear. Some people fucking hate fear, and that's reasonable and should be respected.

People partaking in this clown craze should be arrested for disturbing the peace.

"Disturbing the peace?" Give me a break. On a college campus, of all places, nobody has any right to hurt someone just because they're dressed as a clown and maybe jumping out at people when they walk past some bushes, or just standing eerily along a footpath. If the person dressed as a clown runs up and physically threatens an individual (Grabs them, rushes at them with any sort of weapon, etc), then that's just plain stupid- And the use of violence as a means of defense is understandable. The blame then falls on the person pulling the prank. But this dumb craze can be appropriately handled and regulated as harmless fun in the hands of people who aren't idiots.

Unless there are any reasonable suspicions that an individual has a right to harm someone, nothing should be done. Scare a few people, who cares? If you can't laugh that sort of thing off, you're too timid of a person.

Quote from: SecondClass on October 06, 2016, 08:26:35 PM

No one should be forced to "get into the spirit" of a holiday that revolves around fear. Some people fucking hate fear, and that's reasonable and should be respected.

People partaking in this clown craze should be arrested for disturbing the peace.

"Disturbing the peace?" Give me a break. On a college campus, of all places, nobody has any right to hurt someone just because they're dressed as a clown and maybe jumping out at people when they walk past some bushes, or just standing eerily along a footpath. If the person dressed as a clown runs up and physically threatens an individual (Grabs them, rushes at them with any sort of weapon, etc), then that's just plain stupid- And the use of violence as a means of defense is understandable. The blame then falls on the person pulling the prank. But this dumb craze can be appropriately handled and regulated as harmless fun in the hands of people who aren't idiots.

Unless there are any reasonable suspicions that an individual has a right to harm someone, nothing should be done. Scare a few people, who cares? If you can't laugh that sort of thing off, you're too timid of a person.

And there's nothing wrong with being a timid person. Being unable to sleep out of sheer terror from the memory of the clown you saw gesturing toward you from the edge of the woods isn't "harmless". This is happening in more places than college campuses, but even it if weren't, it would still be bad. No one has the right to scare you without your consent.

People attacking the clowns are going too far, but police action should definetely be taken.

Someone at a nearby college got arrested just for standing on campus, in broad daylight,dressed in a clown outfit and holding a sign.

That's different. The intent there wasn't to incite terror in people.

And there's nothing wrong with being a timid person. Being unable to sleep out of sheer terror from the memory of the clown you saw gesturing toward you from the edge of the woods isn't "harmless". This is happening in more places than college campuses, but even it if weren't, it would still be bad. No one has the right to scare you without your consent.

People attacking the clowns are going too far, but police action should definetely be taken.

The extent of "Police action" being taken should be "Hey, buddy, stop dressing up as a clown and scaring people." Not arresting someone. There are circumstances where this can be done with some degree of appropriateness, although I have no doubt there are many others where this is just an awful idea. Some deserted bike path? Bad place to do this. Public college campus, relatively close to people and near various buildings? I would be hard-pressed to argue any sort of legitimate legal action should be taken. Maybe a meeting with the dean of students or some basic, inconsequential talking-to.

If I want to dress like a clown and stand on public property then I have every damn right to.
If I want to dress like a clown and then jump out of a bush at people then I'm liable to be rightfully shot by a CC'ing 2A'er who perceives me as a threat to his well being.

This will all work itself out in the end.

Quote from: SecondClass on October 06, 2016, 08:46:02 PM

It's harassment, pure and simple. People who go to haunted houses filled with this shit want to be scared. Someone walking from class to class at 10pm, you don't know if he's brave, timid, stable, or unstable. Going out of your way to strike terror into random strangers is always immoral, whether it's October or February. They should be arrested.

There are circumstances where someone should be arrested for pulling this sort of prank, I agree. Some of the dumb shit on Youtube where someone busts into a room with a fake chainsaw and rushes an unsuspecting person is beyond retarded, and there should be legal action taken. That goes beyond a joke, and becomes near-assault.

But the legal system needs to raise its standards if they believe some goofball on a college campus yelling at a random person walking around a bunch of residence buildings is worthy of an arrest. Everyone on this campus was basically celebrating the "Clown sighting" we had a few days ago. Everyone wanted to be a part of this big, dumb game. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be consequences, but legitimate legal action is excessive.

This goes beyond a college prank. It's a nationwide thing and people are doing it everywhere from subdivisions to apartment complexes. If you can't accept that legal action should be taken towards scumbags trying to give nonconsenting bystanders panic attacks, you should at least accept that it's an immoral thing to do.

Oh, I didn't know that this was happening elsewhere.

That's fucking stupid.

that makes, like, two or three things you didn't realize

Quote from: Verbatim on October 06, 2016, 08:57:26 PM

Quote from: Winy on October 06, 2016, 08:55:42 PM

Oh, I didn't know that this was happening elsewhere.

That's fucking stupid.

that makes, like, two or three things you didn't realize

That's because the only time I've really heard about this was when it happened on my campus, which was four days ago (I think maybe three). And the only instance of it happening was in a very public place on my campus at like 9:00, so it wasn't like the person wasn't close to a residence hall, or not within fifty feet of another student.

It's been off and on all around the east coast for a month or so

Quote from: Winy on October 06, 2016, 08:59:20 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on October 06, 2016, 08:57:26 PM

Quote from: Winy on October 06, 2016, 08:55:42 PM

Oh, I didn't know that this was happening elsewhere.

That's fucking stupid.

that makes, like, two or three things you didn't realize

That's because the only time I've really heard about this was when it happened on my campus, which was four days ago (I think maybe three). And the only instance of it happening was in a very public place on my campus at like 9:00, so it wasn't like the person wasn't close to a residence hall, or not within fifty feet of another student.

It's been off and on all around the east coast for a month or so

Huh.

I was wrong.

guess ill become a creepy clown too

imma stand on the side of backroads at night

I can verify that this shot has gone beyond borders, one of my friend's sons was stuck in a library for an hour because one of these asswipes was camping the enterance

Killer Clowns from Outer Space