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French Police warn off "clown hunters"


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No laughing matter - French police warn off 'clown-hunters'
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Two 'fake clowns' in front of the main police station in the town of Beziers. Credit: EBU/France Televisions

A disturbing phenomenon of aggressive 'clowns' has hit France in recent weeks, leading to a counter-wave of social media aggression aimed at the clowns themselves.

Police think the phenomenon stems from a rash of YouTube videos that originally started in the US.

While these are often simply pranks designed to frighten bystanders, the French phenomenon seems altogether more worrying.

On Saturday 14 youths were arrested in the town of Agde dressed as clowns and carrying guns, knives and baseball bats.

The French authorities believe videos such as this one, filmed in the US, are behind the new 'scary clown' phenomenon.

In the southern town of Montpellier a man was recently sentenced to 12 months in jail after beating a passer-by with an iron bar and stealing his mobile phone.

The victim told a judge trying the case that he was "still having nightmares" about the incident.

Further north in the town of Bethune, not far from the Belgian border, a 19-year-old man got a six-month sentence for frightening children.

Not that the aggression ends there - those who have had enough of the clowns have now started a movement of their own to take on the masked miscreants.

The police are now so concerned about vigilantism they have warned the 'clown hunters' not to try to take matters into their own hands.

In a statement they said that social media 'clown hunter' groups were "worrying the population" and threatening to disturb public order.

Instead they have tweeted urging people to dial the 17 emergency phone number if they come across a clown.

The police's tweet urges people not to publish "false information" about clowns and to call the emergency 17 number if anyone comes across a 'scary clown'.

Last updated Tue 28 Oct 2014

Who else would give the cnuts a kick in?

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There is a common phobia for people about clowns and its a simple trick of the mind as you can tell its a person but because there is an emotion painted on their face you can still not tell what that person is thinking or how they feel because of the make up so your brain doesn't know what to do so your scared

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There is a common phobia for people about clowns and its a simple trick of the mind as you can tell its a person but because there is an emotion painted on their face you can still not tell what that person is thinking or how they feel because of the make up so your brain doesn't know what to do so your scared

I'm now scared of Renee Zellweger for the same reasons...

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