November 26, 2015

"When I first saw it, I was kind of creeped out because it was just a random person on the street with a scary mask. I don't like clowns."

Said one young woman about the man dressed as a clown who's been seen walking around Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. People want the police to do something, but the police know the clown to be a developmentally disabled teenage boy who, they say, is "just doing this to see people's reaction," which is, of course, not a crime.

ADDED: Laws against wearing masks are not unheard of. This came up in the context of Guy Fawkes masks in the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2012:
[A]ccording to the New York Penal Law 240.35(4), it is illegal to congregate in public with two or more people while each wearing a mask or any face covering which disguises your identity. The law has existed since 1845, when tenant farmers, in response to a lowering of wheat prices, dressed up as “Indians” and covered their faces with masks in order to attack the police anonymously. There are exceptions for masquerades and other entertainment events that are deemed appropriate by the city (such as Halloween).

27 comments:

MisterBuddwing said...

Perhaps we need some "safe zones" excluding circus clowns...

tim maguire said...

Everything the weakest constitution, the thinnest skin, doesn't like should be illegal. What is this, a free country or something? I know it sued to be, but I thought we were getting away from such barbaric notions.

Damned Enlightenment, why haven't the liberals killed that yet?

Guildofcannonballs said...

Seems to me the police identified the clown, which means they already did that magic *something* demanded of them.

Laslo Spatula said...

Don't worry about the Clown in the neighborhood until he is behind the wheel of a White Van with No Back Windows.

Especially if he is playing Ice Cream Truck music.

The White Van with No Back Windows is NOT an Ice Cream Truck.

There is no Ice Cream in the back, only a Tarp, some Rope, and the Lingering Smell of Despair.


I am Laslo.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

The Democrats have been doing this for years. First in!?

Mark Caplan said...

In North Carolina, it is a crime for someone over 15 to appear in public wearing a mask "whereby the person, face or voice is disguised so as to conceal the identity of the wearer...." (General Statute 14-12.7). I don't know that the law has been tested in regard to the burqa.

Ken B said...

I want to know what Ann thinks about say masked men hanging about parks where kids play.

Bob Boyd said...

They should leave him alone....as long as he doesn't evolve into a mime.
If that happens, then of course, certain measures will have to be taken.

Ann Althouse said...

I think the people who know him, especially his family, should use their skill and judgment to help him figure out how to behave in a successful, beneficial way.

jimbino said...

He would be really scary if he walked the streets of Amerika day and night dressed as a Black teenager.

Ann Althouse said...

What would you do if you had a teenaged child who, you knew, was scaring other people?

Wince said...

"Well, maybe next year?"

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

This may sound harsh, but I'm guessing "skill and judgement" aren't prevalent in a family that let's their developmentally disabled teenager run around the neighborhood in an orange jumpsuit and clown mask.

Laslo Spatula said...

So, I am just walking through the neighborhoods at night, nothing special, just wearing a Clown Suit and standing under streetlamps, when a car full of drunk teenagers pulls up.

"What the Fuck are you?" One of them yells as they get out of the car.

"I am The Spirit of Senselessness," I say, because that is the Name I have given Myself for when I stand beneath streetlamps at night wearing my Clown Suit.

"You're a Freak, that's what you are," says another; there is now the Unmistakable Ozone of Menace in the Air.

"If I am a Freak it is because the World is Full of Spiders," I say, trying to reason with them.

"What about fucking spiders?"

"They're everywhere. They're on everyone. Spiders. Tiny. They crawl into your ears and inside your brain. It is Inevitable."

"You're a Sick Fuck, you know that? People like you should have the crap kicked out of you."

"I would rather have a beer and drive around in your car."

"What?"

"I would like a beer, to begin."

"Johnny," one says, laughing, "get Clown Bro here a beer," and he does, from the cooler in the back seat.

I drink the beer in three gulps, then throw the bottle down the street; it shatters in the distance, a beautiful sound.

"I like the Sound of Things Breaking," I say, gesturing for another beer.

"Dude, we need to keep it kinda quiet, you know? There may be cops around."

"I am Invisible to Police. Also: A woman could fit into your trunk."

"What?"

"Let's go for a Drive," I say, but one of them shakes his head.

"I'm not sure I want to drive around with a Clown that is looking for women to put in the trunk of the car."

"Then you don't know anything about The Trunk of Destiny."

"Johnny, maybe we should be taking off..."

"I am the King of Clown Fuck!" I explain, but they back up to their car and climb in.

"Don't Fuck with the King of Clown Fuck!" I say as they leave, careening down the street before running up a sidewalk and into a tree.

I wonder if any of them are Dead.

I wonder if there is a Heaven, or if Senselessness is all there is to Life.

Plus I have to pee.

I am Laslo.

Gahrie said...

What would you do if you had a teenaged child who, you knew, was scaring other people?

I would indulge his pathologies by allowing him to continue, and then act surprised when they escalates to actual batteries.

Bob Boyd said...

"What would you do if you had a teenaged child who, you knew, was scaring other people?"

This kid's parents were confronted by that very question.
Their answer was to dress him like a clown so he wouldn't be so scary looking.

I guess now they'll have to try something else. Too bad they didn't have twins, they could've put them in a zebra suit. Zebras aren't scary.


Hmmm...what about a Trump costume? People seem to like Trump.

traditionalguy said...

Wearing Masks over a face was made illegal in Georgia in 1951. (See, O.C.G.A. 16-11-38) The KKK was trying to come back after WWII and NO one wanted to see that again.

Big Mike said...

What would you do if you had a teenaged child who, you knew, was scaring other people?

@Althouse, perhaps you might redirect your question to the mothers of young men hanging around subway stops in their hoodies and gang colors?

Oops! Racist to ask the question! Only mean, nasty, racist Republicans ask these questions. We're supposed to look at a young man dressed and acting like a gang-banger and react no differently than if we see a young man in a well-fitted suit.

But buried in my question is this -- if one of the young snowflakes at Carroll University can't cope with a boy in a clown mask, how's she supposed to cope with what she will run into in the real world once she gets out? Is she hoping to snag a wealthy husband who can let her set up housekeeping in a gated community somewhere?

Big Mike said...

What would you do if you had a teenaged child who, you knew, was scaring other people?

One thing I would not do is take the child to a pediatric psychiatrist! Let me know if you know of one that isn't himself or herself a victim of Aspergers syndrome.

garage mahal said...

No shortage of clowns in Waukesha County.

tim maguire said...

I would counsel my teenage child to stop scaring people and warn him of the consequences of doing it anyway. The distinction, which is too often overlooked these days, is between what you should not do and what you should not be allowed to do.

Anonymous said...

It is against the law in Germany to conceal your face. I don't know how or if they actually enforce it, given the number of, as Germans call Muslim women, penguins that now live there.

Anywhere garage goes, by definition, has no shortage of clowns.

Drago said...

Just think, a developmentally challenged young man in Waukesha county somehow possesses the capacity to find his way to a local college while garage cannot find the capacity to sign up for night courses to better himself.

There are many degrees of "developmentally challenged".

Clearly.

clint said...

Bob Boyd said...
"I guess now they'll have to try something else. Too bad they didn't have twins, they could've put them in a zebra suit. Zebras aren't scary."

Zebras are a bit startling, however. You know, you hear hoofbeats and turn around expecting to see a horse...


tim maguire said...
"The distinction, which is too often overlooked these days, is between what you should not do and what you should not be allowed to do."

+1.

This is why this blog needs a "like" button.

Also this:

Laslo Spatula said...""

You really need to write a book and let us know about it so we can buy it through the Althouse Amazon Portal.

ken in tx said...

Every state where the klan was once active have anti-mask laws, or did at one time.

Unknown said...

Laslo gets a hearty laugh from me. Again.

JAORE said...

"Laslo gets a hearty laugh from me. Again."

Me too. But I conceal it. My wife once asked to see what was so funny....