Clown Chases Joggers — Video Gets 19 Million Facebook Views As Merrimack College Goes Into Lockdown Over Armed Clown

The clown sightings situation continues to make the news, with a Facebook video posted by Chase Prior on October 1 going completely viral within days. The video purports to show Chase going on a jog with his friend when the duo happen upon a clown on a bridge. Prior begins yelling and cursing at the clown — asking the clown what he is doing there so early in the morning, as well as why he’d be there joking around in the woods with all the clown sightings that are afoot.

The clown turns around and gives chase to Chase and his friend. The video has gotten nearly 20 million views on Facebook. It isn’t known if the clown video is a hoax or a stunt that was pre-planned and designed for publicity — or if Chase’s video is an actual recording of Prior and his friend encountering a scary clown.

Warning: The following clown sighting video contains language that might be upsetting to some viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rraP3dR6fw4

Chase detailed what he said happened in Newark, Ohio, with Prior explaining that fear drove him and his friend away from the clown.

“Well, this morning I had a rather traumatizing experience. I woke up early to go running with Patrick Williams and we parked by the YMCA to hit the bike path leading toward 21st Street and eventually out toward Evans. Ironically, my friend Zane and I had just been discussing supposed sightings of clowns around the 21st Street / 16 intersection. We had no idea this would happen when we started our run. The video is NSFW due to my language, which I apologize for but I was more than a little shook up. Keep an eye out of this guy or someone like him around the area because this was absolutely terrifying, joke or not. We didn’t stick around to find out.”

Prior isn’t the only one who is reporting clown sightings.

According to Fox 25, Merrimack College is currently in lockdown status because of a clown sighting — and this clown sighting reportedly involves an armed clown.

Find out more breaking news about the Merrimack College clown sightings on Twitter.

Already, Merrimack College students are tweeting about how the armed clown sighting is having an effect on their psyche. The most recent reports claim the Merrimack College clown had a rifle.

“After being traumatized by this clown forcing Merrimack to lockdown, I don’t think I’m mentally well enough to go to classes tomorrow.”

On Twitter, a search for the word clown turns up all sorts of reactions to the recent clown sightings. Mostly, people on social media are joking about what they’d do if they saw a clown in person. The clown costume has no longer become a cool and creepy character that could show up at birthday parties for children and entertain them with balloon animals.

The clown costume has now become a threatening thing that has caused people to become defensive or afraid.

As seen in the top photo above, a man who was wearing a clown mask was taken down to the ground by Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. The clown had been protesting outside a Donald Trump rally in Anaheim, California.

As of this writing, Twitter reports that some of the most popular clown search terms are “clown Kent,” which is likely related to a photo of a person dressed in a clown in Ohio.

Other popular search terms are for a clown in the woods, a clown in Washington, the above-referenced clown trail video — and for a clown hunt, which apparently involves people going out and searching for clowns in a bid of enacting some sort of vigilante justice.

[Featured Image by Nick Ut/AP Images]