The ‘creepy clown’ craze has resulted in #ClownLivesMatter trending on social media, angering some #BlackLivesMatter supporters and causing a very bizarre twitter showdown.
The #ClownLivesMatter hashtag began as a pushback from ‘normal’ clowns who fear their profession is being damaged by all the creepy clown cases popping up across the US and UK.
Jordan Jones, who works as a scary clown at a haunted house in Maryland, started the #ClownLivesMatter hashtag, according to WPMT.
Clown trade associations also took to social media to defend themselves against the negative press their craft has been receiving, and the hashtag began trending.
Even author Stephen King, who many would blame for their fear of clowns thanks to his horror novel 'IT', weighed in on the matter.
For #BlackLivesMatter supporters, the clown’s appropriation of their hashtag was an insult. Some felt it diminished their movement, which began in response to fatal police brutality against largely unarmed black men.
For many, the contrast between black people being killed by police officers versus people dressed as clowns trying to frighten people was just too much.