With clown attacks—or at least reports of them—occurring all over the nation, it’s shaping up to be an especially creepy Halloween. August brought us the first storiesout of South Carolina, where costumed figures have been reportedly using cash offers to try and lure children to an isolated clown cabin in the woods. With the help of social media, news of subsequent sightings has spread through the United States like a measles outbreak through a daycare center. Within a month, there had been clown incidentsreported in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Many more followed. By late September, local authorities in Muncie, Indiana were compelled topublicly address Facebook-generated clown hysteria, reassuring citizens that clowns were not a threat to them.
It’s a strange time to be alive in America, but Attorney Marc Lopez is always ready to help. Here are three things to keep in mind this October:
1) Clowning in Indiana is UNREGULATED. Some states have Constitutionally-questionable anti-mask laws (see North Carolina’s, for the broadest example), but Indiana is not one of them. Clowns in Indiana are not subject to any special laws or restrictions.* They have the same rights as you do.
2) If you notice a clown or group of clowns leering, lurking, or otherwise lingering in your neighborhood, the safest course of action is to notify the authorities. If, however, you’re an attention-seeker looking to participate in a cultural phenomenon by cooking up a story, beware: “giv[ing] a false report of the commission of a crime or giv[ing] false information in the official investigation of the commission of a crime” is a Class B misdemeanor in Indiana.
3) There’s a popular sports adage that says: “The best defense is a good offense.” This is not true when it comes to clowns. Do NOT attempt any sort of pre-emptive attack on a clown, even if you find the clown disturbing. This is battery, and it’s at least a Class B misdemeanor. If, on the other hand, the clown is the aggressor, you’re entitled to defend yourself “using reasonable force against any other person to protect . . . from what [you] reasonably believe to be the imminent use of unlawful force.” You can even use deadly force if you “reasonably believe” that it’s necessary to prevent serious bodily injury.
To sum up, please remember that clowns are people, too. In this country, we have a long—if not proud—history of leaping to conclusions about others based on how they look. Such conclusions are never completely accurate, and you should probably take a deep breath before charging headlong into fight-or-flight mode the next time you see a clown. If you’ve been injured by a clown—or if you’re a clown who’s been injured—call Attorney Marc Lopez at 632-3642 for a free consultation.
*NOTE: It is a violation of Marion County Local Ordinance 401-105 “for any person to wear any mask, false whiskers, or any personal disguise (whether complete or partial) for the purpose of: (a) Evading or escaping discovery, recognition or identification in the commission of any public offense; or (b) Concealment, flight or escape, when charged with, arrested for or convicted of any public offense.” In other words, you’re okay to wear a mask in public so long as you behave yourself, but you’re not allowed to use a disguise to assist with any criminal endeavor.
