The existence of potentially dangerous clowns roaming the woods is not news to residents of Troy, Alabama. A former Captain of Police in Ozark said, “[The clowns] are saying they are everywhere. From [New] Jersey, to [North] Carolina, to Georgia, it’s been everywhere. They’re just standing around trying to incite kids to come out to the woods.” Most people know about the numerous clown incidents that have spread down the East Coast the past few weeks, whether from news broadcasts or Facebook.
In a brief interview, Bradley Blankenship, a freshman Music Education major at Troy University, said, "I’m just wondering how these people have all this free time….to go around trying to scare people and stuff. Who has that kind of time? It's funny, sad, and extremely frightening all at the same time."
The clowns create Facebook pages, where they stream live videos and post updates on their locations and plans in attempts to intimidate and entertain viewers. At around 3:15pm, Saturday the 17th, a local clown account posted that two clowns had arrived in Troy, AL. Their arrival is only a day after Dothan High School was put on a soft lockdown after threats from similar parties (WTVY).
At first, the claims were received with some worry, until the clowns were supposedly spotted near the Troy University campus. A relative of a local officer said her sister had, "got a call from a campus police officer," asking if they could, "come help," because the clowns were on campus.
While many residents of Troy may be spooked, the county, city, and campus police are on alert and fully aware of the situation, as are the polices departments of surrounding towns. Residents have been informed that they should, as usual, be aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior.
Nathaniel Rod, an anchor for Troy University's news station, TrojanVision, had this to say:
"My opinion on these clowns is that these are two low lives that have nothing better to with their time, except to break the monotony of their lives. Working a minimum wage job at McDonald's, they have to resort to buying cheap costumes at CVS and harassing people. They aren't going to do anything because they announced their arrival. My attitude is this: get lost."
One of the Rugby Club players from Troy University, Chris Wallace, added some input on Facebook saying, "I’ll grab my battle-ax."
If I were these clowns, I'd start to rethink where I was going and who I was messing with. Troy means business, and they aren't afraid to say so.
