No laughing matter: Creepy clowns frighten Israel
Police and local authorities are trying to deal with children and teenagers in scary clown masks jumping strangers on the street; 10.5-year-old girl sprayed with tear gas by teens in clown masks in Be'er Sheva, while a 13-year-old boy with Dracula mask caught carrying knife in Herzliya.
What began as a prank now has police and local authorities baffled as children and teenagers in scary clown masks have been jumping strangers on the street, and in some instances attacking them.
The worst such attack was on Monday, when a 10.5-year-old girl from Be'er Sheva was sprayed with tear gas by a group of teenagers in clown masks.
On Tuesday, a 17-year-old boy was lightly hurt while chasing a clown in the city.
These incidents prompted Be'er Sheva Mayor Ruvik Danilovich to write a post on social media calling on teens in the city not to take part in what he described as "a sad and very dangerous prank."
Be'er Sheva is not the only southern city to be plagued by the creepy clowns phenomenon. The Israel Police's Juvenile Unit arrested four children under the age of 12 who were scaring passersby in Dimona with clown masks. They were questioned, expressed regret for their actions, and were passed on to welfare authorities in the city for further treatment.
Meanwhile, Rishon Lezion's city call center received dozens of calls over the past week from frightened citizens who encountered clowns.
Acting Mayor Raz Kinstlich instructed the city's security patrol to be on the lookout for such sightings. Earlier this week, three teenagers were caught on security camera dressed as clowns, while on Tuesday an 11-year-old boy and two 15-year-old teenage boys were caught with clown masks in the city center.
In Ramla, an 18-year-old man was arrested after police received several reports of a man dressed as a clown who was scaring passersby at a public park.
In Kiryat Gat, police officers detained two teenagers after similar reports.
In Holon, as well, two teenage boys aged 14 and 17 were detained on suspicion of scaring and intimidating passersby at a public park.
The creepy clown trend also made its way to northern Israel. Late Tuesday, two children under 12 were detained in Kiryat Shmona after scaring onlookers while decked out in clown masks. The two youngsters were released to their parents' custody after receiving a warning.
In Ramat Yishai, a town about 23 km southeast of Haifa, police received reports early Wednesday of teenagers in clown masks scaring people on the street. Policemen who arrived at the scene detained a 16-year-old boy who was trying to hide a mask and a plastic hammer. He too was released to his parents' custody after receiving a warning.
In Afula, four minors with clown masks were arrested, while the city call centers in Hadera and Kiryat Motzkin received videos in recent days of costumed teens scaring people on the street.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested in Herzliya on Tuesday wearing a Dracula mask and armed with a knife. He was released under restrictive conditions.
A list has been making the rounds among teenagers across the country of dates and places where the creepy clowns are due to make an appearance: October 4 in Hadera, October 6 in Tel Aviv, October 7 in Haifa, October 8 in Ashkelon, October 9 in Kiryat Malachi, October 10 in Ashdod, October 11 in Rehovot, and October 12 in Petah Tikva, Ramla, Ness Ziona, Yavne and Afula.
In a special memo sent to schools on Tuesday, the Education Ministry asked teachers to talk to students about the phenomenon, assuage their fears and encourage them to seek help. At the same time, teachers were asked to stress intimidation and scaring are, for all intents and purposes, also a form of violence.
The Israel Police said that while most cases did not result in physical harm and most perpetrators did not set out to hurt anyone, citizens encountering clowns are asked to nevertheless stay away and report the sighting to the police.
"We will show zero tolerance towards those who threaten the public and expose it to different dangers," police said.
"There is also concern someone misinterprets the prank as a real threat and hurts the teens, who at times use different props that look like weapons," police further said in a statement. "In light of this, we call on the public not to take law into their own hands and not to harm those teenagers."
Creepy clowns around the world
The frightening clown sightings and attacks are not unique to Israel. During the fall of 2016, creepy clown sightings were reported in 19 different countries—particularly in the United States, Canada and Britain—and went viral on social media. In some cases, there were reports of violent assaults by clowns.
This created a wave of copycat pranks, most of which were not violent. However, some people did report being physically attacked by clowns.
Some point to the movie "It," based on a horror novel by Stephen King, as possible inspiration for these pranks. The movie features a group of children fighting pure evil in the form of a creepy clown.
Ilana Curiel, Meir Turgeman, Tamar Trabelsi-Hadad, Israel Moskowitz, Lior El-Hai, Benjamin Tobias, Itay Blumenthal and Eli Senyor contributed to this report.
