Pasadena got “clowned.”
A series of Instagram postings this week from accounts called wearecomingtocali and wearecomingtoPasadena warning of “creepy clowns” invading Pasadena seemed only to haunt online clown watchers. Pasadena itself? Not so much.
A Pasadena police official said late Wednesday the department had not received any actual reports of clown sightings.
Earlier in the evening, a Pasadena Unified School District official said she was not aware of any “clown reports” involving any Pasadena public school campus.
The social media postings were apparently part of a sudden national craze over so-called “creepy clowns,” people dressed as clowns suddenly appearing in neighborhoods, parks and schools, primarily with the intent of scaring people.
Some “creepy clown” activities have turned criminal. In Fontana, California police arrested a 14-year-old student who allegedly made criminal threats online under the identity of the “Fontana Killer Clown.”
In other reported cases, authorities have received reports of people dressed as clowns banging on house windows, following victims home and several physical assaults. In Concord. California a man dressed as a clown is accused of attempting to kidnap a one-year-old infant.
The post from wearecomingtocali Wednesday morning said, “We will be invading Los Angeles, Carson, Culver City, Torrance, Crenshaw, Inglewood, Pasadena, Compton, Lakewood, Palmdale etc.”
Another post from wearecomingtoPasadena said “creepy clowns” would come to Villa Park Wednesday evening, but the photo posted was actually a photo of Victory Park near Pasadena High School.
A subsequent posting on Twitter bearing the account @ClownWatches, said “Paloma Park. 3 of them[creepy clowns] waiting for people to walk by in a black Infiniti.”
A visit to the park actually revealed a black Infiniti in the parking lot, but no “creepy clowns.”
(One photo on Twitter appeared to show a clown waiting for a bus on San Fernando Road in nearby Glendale, but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.)
The wearecomingtoPasadena account also posted a photo of the Colorado Street Bridge, but as of yet, there have been no confirmed sightings of any “creepy clowns” at that location.