Target's clown masks are being pulled from shelves nationwide, the retailer announced Sunday "out of sensitivity" for reported claims of violence and threats on social media and other crimes connected with people dressed as clowns.
Target spokesman Joshua Thomas told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the company also was in the process of pulling the masks from its online site as well.
A 15-year-old Bloomington, Minnesota, girl was arrested last week after allegedly posting a Kroacky Klown threat on Facebook targeting residents there as well as Bloomington, Richfield, Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul, Rochester, Apple Valley, and Plymouth, reported the Star Tribune.
KARE-TV reported a 13-year-old boy was arrested by Bloomington police last week after he allegedly made a threat of violence at Valley View Middle School along with a photo of a clown on social media, like similar other incidents on social media.
Edina Public School District officials told KARE-TV that "creepy clown" posts have appeared mostly on Twitter and they have been working to track down the source of the threats.
A St. Francis, Minnesota, high school soccer and basketball coach was fired by the school district after a picture of him wearing a clown mask on the last day of freshman soccer practice appeared on Twitter, noted KARE-TV last week.
Ben Hildre, who was a volunteer coach, told the television station he did not know about what has been dubbed as the "creepy clown craze."
"I'd say that the safety and security of kids is not an overreaction," Troy Ferguson, St. Francis superintendent, told KARE-TV. Ferguson told the television station that in the days leading up to this incident, he heard elementary and middle school teachers say several kids were very afraid following the reports of scary clowns around the country.
The New York Times reported last month that 12 people were arrested in several states across the country for making false reports or threats, or chasing people in connection to clown sightings.
The first reports of unusual clown sightings surfaced in Greenville, South Carolina, in late August, where children claimed costumed clowns offered them money in an attempt to lure them into the woods.
Since then, similar reports popped up in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, but authorities were unable to verify them, stated the NYT.
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