Man Detained by Cops At Walmart on Suspicion of Being a Freaky Clown

The following post and accompanying videos were shared with the CopBlock Network by a reader who goes by the pseudonym “Mista Jay” on Youtube, via the CopBlock Submissions Page.

The videos were actually taken during the Great Clown Invasion of 2016, which took place shortly before Halloween. During that time hype surrounding phony threats from scary clowns gave police departments across the country the excuse to issue silly warnings to their communities, declare masks illegal, step up patrols, arrest teenagers, and encourage people to violently attack innocent clowns.

Apparently, Jay does some sort of YouTube show in which he dresses up as the Joker from Batman and therefore wasn’t connected to the clown hoaxes. Regardless of that, he was affected by the hysteria it created. As a result of walking into a public place dressed in clown makeup, he was stopped and asked for ID, which he provided in spite of not actually being legally detained and thus not required to do so.

Obviously, this isn’t so much a story of police abuse, but rather a story about how typical citizens accept the hype and scare tactics of the police. It’s also a somewhat cautionary tale about those same citizens’ tendency to call the police for any minor, mundane situation. Fortunately, the police that responded to Jay dressing like a clown were pretty reasonable and didn’t resort to violence against him. However, many other stories haven’t ended so well. People should never call the police unless they are okay with the possibility that the person they call them on might be abused, arrested, and/or killed.

Date of Incident: October 24, 2016
Department Involved: Yuba City (CA) Police Department

If you have a video, personal story involving police misconduct and/or abuse, or commentary about a law enforcement related news story, we would be happy to have you submit it. You can find some advice on how to get your submission published on the CopBlock Network within this post.

Description from Original Video:

In this video, you will clearly see how I was minding my own business going about my day in Walmart. Within literally a few minutes of just walking through the store, out of nowhere cops were called on me for the reason of “my looks.” Someone called 911 just to say “There’s a freak walking around here in Walmart and I think he’s dangerous.”

I did not plan this situation, nor did I do anything wrong to anybody. However, when I was on my way to Walmart, having had the situations that I’ve had to deal with in the past similar to this, I anticipated this event in a way. You can clearly see how I go about the situation, how the pedestrians react, and how the police act.

I have a very clear message at the end. Are you part of this land of sheep that discriminate and judge people based on their looks and beliefs? CHOOSE TO BE the difference. BE THAT person who accepts everybody no matter the circumstances (unless given reasonable doubt otherwise) that stands out and doesn’t accept the stigmas, stereotypes, or discrimination.

Description From Follow-up Video (Embedded Below):

After the video of me and Walmart went viral, with over 10,000 views as I speak, there were a lot of people who were judging, discriminating, hating, and even going as far to threaten me. When the biggest problem is that they don’t even know the whole perspective or my story or even who I am for that matter. Here’s my response to all of it. My message is simple. Thank you to all who had my back.

– Jay

Original Video

Follow-up Video

Man Detained by Cops At Walmart on Suspicion of Being a Freaky Clown is a post from Cop Block – Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights