Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Kindly Man In His Seventies Dresses Up As A Clown For His Birthday—And Winds Up Getting The Cops Called On Him

Kindly Man In His Seventies Dresses Up As A Clown For His Birthday—And Winds Up Getting The Cops Called On Him
CLAUDIO CAPUCHO/Getty Images / Josie Zbierajewski/Facebook

An elderly Clarksville, Tennessee man recently caused quite a stir when he dressed up as a clown to celebrate his birthday.


Unfortunately, the man's choice of celebration resulted in a pretty significant misunderstanding, as it involved dressing as a clown and handing out candy to people.

A call to the police was made to report a man trying to lure children to his car with candy. In reality, the man was just trying to make people happy, though his method is a bit odd in today's culture.

Jim Knoll, spokesperson for the Clarksville Police Department, told BuzzFeed News:

"The guy's in his seventies. He's a Vietnam vet, and every person I spoke to said he's a nice guy."
"Nothing indicates he was doing anything nefarious."

A statement by the Police Department on Facebook addressed the call and assuaged public fears.

"The great clown mystery has been solved. Police have located the man who was spotted in a clown costume."
"He is an older man who dresses up once a year on his birthday as a clown and hands out candy Today, is his birthday."

Local businesses vouched for the man and his character.

"We went to a couple of places where he frequents and they verified he was at those places this morning dressed up as a clown."
"They say he is a nice man that dresses up and is known to give out candy."

Police who spoke with him also didn't think he had any malicious intent.

"Police had contact with him and he said he had been dressed up as a clown and did not mean any harm."
"There was also nothing that indicated to police that his actions were intentionally harmful or meant to scare anyone."

Many who commented on the department's post were thankful to find out that there was no danger.

Diane Fagin Herndon/Facebook


A few people talked about how things could have ended much, much worse.

Suzy Foster/Facebook

Some praised the children who reported their encounter with the man for playing it safe.

Kristen Ashford/Facebook


Dana Davis Abee/Facebook

Several also wished the man a happy birthday, and expressed sadness at the misunderstanding.

Jozie Zbierajewski/Facebook


Wendy Leo/Facebook

The choice of handing out candy to children dressed as a clown does seem like a strange one, given many people's fear of clowns and the fact that children are taught about "stranger danger" from a young age.

It is a very good thing that nobody decided to take matters into their own hands, and that the man was still able to have a happy birthday.

In the future however, maybe the man will want to modify the way he celebrates his birthday.

More from Trending

Chris Hemsworth as Thor; Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Disney/Marvel

Marvel's Dramatic Announcement Of The 'Avengers: Doomsday' Cast Sparks Hilarious Memes

The internet hilariously trolled Marvel with endless memes after the studio revealed the epic cast list for the upcoming MCU film, Avengers: Doomsday.

Doomsday will be the fifth installment in the Avengers film series and the 39th film in the MCU, following 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Elon Musk's Attempt To Shame Heckler At His Wisconsin Rally Backfired Big Time

Billionaire Elon Musk was called out after he tried to shut down a protester during his Wisconsin rally on Sunday by invoking George Soros, only for people to point out that his criticisms were a bit hypocritical considering his own record of funding MAGA causes.

Soros—a billionaire philanthropist who has been the subject of countless conservative and antisemitic conspiracy theories for his support of progressive and liberal political causes—was Musk's first thought amid the ongoing Supreme Court race in Wisconsin despite the fact he is currently paying people to help sway the race.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez's arrest
ICE

White House Slammed After Turning Sobbing Woman's ICE Arrest Into AI-Generated Cartoon

The Trump administration sparked outrage after using the official White House X account to share an A.I.-generated Studio Ghibli-style cartoon to mock the arrest and deportation of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a Dominican migrant who had previously been deported from the United States after being convicted of fentanyl trafficking.

Basora-Gonzalez was arrested in Philadelphia by ICE for allegedly reentering the U.S. illegally. Seen in tears as she was taken into custody, the woman, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, had prior convictions for attempted possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and aiding and abetting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

MTG Dragged For Editing Tweet After Accidentally Including Hilariously Anti-MAGA Error

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was widely mocked after she shared a video on X in which she bragged about her "Gulf of America" bill but didn't realize she'd accidentally dropped the MAGA mask by referring to it by its proper name—the Gulf of Mexico—instead.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." The order also reversed an Obama-era decision and changed the name of the Alaskan mountain Denali back to "Mount McKinley."

Keep ReadingShow less
Man looking at mountain view
Tim Bogdanov/Unsplash

Guys Over 30 Share Life Lessons All Young Men Should Learn Early

While older generations pass on their wisdom to younger ones, some things are overlooked.

Younger people wish they were warned about some pieces of information they could've benefitted from but found out too late.

Keep ReadingShow less