US police tracked clowns online after wave of reports about ‘menacing’ threats

Sightings in 2016 were reported across the US, and caused ‘concerns’ for schools in DC

A man in a clown costume (Joaquin Gomez Sastre/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

US police monitored a number of clowns on social media to find out who might be responsible for issuing threats to DC schools in 2016, according to files.

Recently obtained by The Guardian , a report from Washington DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) revealed it investigated threats from clowns in 2016, after a wave of sightings and online activity.

A 3 October 2016 document titled called “Social Media Clown Threats” referenced clowns that caught “the attention of many School Administrations” in the DC area in October of that year, and were a “cause of concern for many parents”.

"Snappytheclown," an account on Instagram and, "killerclownamber”, a Facebook account, allegedly issued threats towards schools in DC and students. As did others.

“Cardozo and Bell, here we come,” the account “snappytheclown,” allegedly wrote, in reference to two DC schools.

“The attack will be Monday at 3.30 PM after I prove you will join me in humanity’s annihilation”.

According to the MPD file, the department issued warrants for more information on a number of clowns on Instagram, and the Twitter account @joetheclown.

It followed “threats coming from accounts created by unknown persons with profile pictures of clowns”, and a wave of menacing clown sightings in the US.

The Guardian obtained the MPD file after it was stolen and published by the ransomware attack group Babuk, and distributed by Distributed Denial of Secrets distributed, a transparency organisation.