The Ark-La-Tex ‘Clown Panic’ Of 2016

What a simpler time we were all living in back in 2016. No pandemic, we weren't talking "inflation" all the time, no lock downs, there weren't plots uncovered by the FBI to kidnap Governor's in our country. Really it was a lot simpler.

But in October of 2016, a panic did set in across America...that was the 2016 Great Clown Panic.

You might remember this time. When people across the country were reporting that clowns were invading their towns. People were saying that clowns were stalking them, vandalizing property, and threatening people. But in hindsight, a bunch of that was untrue. Now that doesn't mean ALL of it was, because once the panic started, there were troublemakers who jumped in to take advantage.

The panic didn't leave our area alone either.

In October of 2016 in the small Ark-La-Tex community of Cullen, the Clown Panic hit hard. Reports broke early one morning that a home intruder dressed as a clown attacked two young girls.

The original story, which was fueled by gossip, circulated out from Cullen that two girls were attacked by a clown in their home, and the attacker had slashed one of the girls with a knife. This rumor spread like wildfire online, so the Police Chief in Cullen addressed the story with the facts she had gathered...

So right away police were able to disprove some of the viral rumor online. The girl was not cut by the suspect, but rather by glass when the girl was thrown through a window in an escape attempt. The Police Chief also shied away from describing the assailant as a clown.

Then the District Attorney for Webster Parish addressed the investigation, and was much more forceful in the denial that this involved anything to do with a clown.

Since we never heard anymore about clowns in Cullen surrounding this case, I think it's safe to say that this was not a "clown attack", and just our part of a bigger urban legend.