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Creepy clowns of Athabasca

Athabasca had their own brief scary clown “incident” this past week. The Advocate received images of an Instagram account under the name Clowns In Athabasca, with “don’t run when you see us” and a knife emoji on the account page description.
Athabasca had their own brief scary clown “incident” last week.
Athabasca had their own brief scary clown “incident” last week.

Athabasca had their own brief scary clown “incident” this past week.

The Advocate received images of an Instagram account under the name Clowns In Athabasca, with “don’t run when you see us” and a knife emoji on the account page description.

Brian Nicholl, Staff Sgt. of Athabasca’s RCMP detachment, said he and his attachment were made aware of the account after overhearing some rumors. He added no complaints were called in, and no police report was made.

“There was no actual report filed,” he said “I did hear about it – as just a person, I heard about it and my guys did try and find it. And apparently, it was pulled right away.”

“I can’t confirm that personally, but they couldn’t find it,” he added when asked about the account’s deactivation.

According to a Fort Saskatchewan RCMP press release, the “fad” originated in the United States, where people have been dressing up as clowns in public, videoing themselves and then posting their video on social media.

Nicholl said there have been no reported incidents of people dressing as clowns in Athabasca, but is reminding residents how this “fad” can be dangerous for both parties.

“There’s still potential for them to be arrested depending on what they do,” he said. “Even though I know people consider it a prank – if you run after somebody with a ‘mallet looking thing’ that is assault with a weapon, because they don’t know the difference. Same with a police officer, because we can’t tell it’s not real.”

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