Clowns. They are here, and they are not friendly.

It began about little over a month ago. The first sightings happened in South Carolina where one neighborhood made headlines after a group of clowns were found. It was reported that the group of clowns hid behind an apartment complex in the woods. The group waved cash to children in hopes of luring them into the woods away from their parents.

The sightings did not just stop there. Soon, all across America, the phenomena grew. Groups of people who were dressed from head to toe in clown wear and makeup began to terrorize civilians. The latest attacks happened only a few days ago when a boy was cut by a clown. The boy described the clown as having a red nose, red hair, and had a mask on. The clown had cut the boy with a butter knife though it is unclear rather the boy was hurt before or after running away from the man. Not only a few minutes later did two women call 911 for help. The problem? A group of clowns with baseball bats began to chase after the woman.

The horrible thing about all of this is that not only are people dressing up and scaring people, but they are also starting to hurt people. It does not matter if this started off as a prank or joke. It’s not funny anymore and people are starting to fight back. At Penn State students were shown to have run out into the streets in crowds waiting to encounter clowns that were said to have gotten onto campus. Here at Michigan State, it has been rumored that clowns have made their way on campus. When my friend heard about this she was quick to get our guy friends to walk us to her car.

Students are scared. Parents are scared. The people that are dressing up as clowns should be scared.

People have been reported to have shot down clowns that have tried to go onto their property. Under the law people are safe to fire on someone if they feel threatened at their own homes. Again, the joke is over and people going out in clown masks should quit. They need to stop before something happens because honestly they will be taken down. It is not a matter of who but when. There are videos of people getting out of their car with iron rods and hitting the masked villains until they are bloody. Sometimes the ones doing the beatings do not leave them with only a few broken bones. Clowns seen carrying weapons especially will be getting these type of approaches.

Children deserve to be able to go to the park without worrying that they might be lured somewhere by a man with purple hair. Women should be able to go on walks without having to run away from a cackling guy with a machete. Students should be able to feel safe where they go to school at and not have to worry that maybe they are going to killed by a clown.