Following a rash of reports of scary clowns in Tennessee, law enforcement officials in that state took to Twitter over the weekend to warn local residents that the clowns in question may not be well-intentioned and asked folks to call 911 if they see any.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol on Saturday warned that the clowns, in fact, may be predators trying to lure children into the woods. The tweet came complete with an ominous picture of two clowns, one of them wearing a white “wife-beater” style t-shirt and the other sporting a floppy red wig, standing menacingly in a wooded area.
“They have made it to Jackson, Tn,” the caption warned.
Later, after news surfaced that the clowns in the picture are actually part of a New Hampshire performance art troupe, the department was forced to step back from the tweet and issue a correction.
The group, known as the Plymouth Clowns, said they had no affiliation with anyone in other states besmirching the good name of clowns everywhere.
“Clowns, if y’all see this, just know we don’t condone what you’re doing,” the group wrote on its Facebook page. “You are not going to get any sort of approval or praise from us, and you need to stop. What we do is legal, what you’re doing is creating hysteria and panic and is quite frankly not in any way Ok.”
Despite the snafu over the photo, Tennessee officials caution that the threat of malevolent clowns is very real. As evidence, they cited reports by a 15-year-old Summitville boy that he was attacked last week by someone wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and a clown mask with green hair.