Tucson woman organizing 'Clown Lives Matter' peace walk

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - A Tucson woman is organizing an event to clowns in the wake of reports from around the country claiming clowns are either trying to lure children away or making threats on social media.

While there have been some incidents involving people in masks committing such crimes as robberies, most of these frightening reports are unsubstantiated, and some have been confirmed to be hoaxes.

According to a flier on one of Nikki Sinn's Facebook pages, the pro-clown event is a "peace walk" to show "clowns are not psycho killers."

Sinn said families are encourage to come "meet a clown and get a hug."

Clowns who want to attend are asked to wear full makeup or masks and pick a pair of comfortable, but oversized, walking shoes.

The walk on Fourth Avenue is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15.

There has been some backlash over the name of the rally.

A spokesman of the Arizona Black Lives Matter campaign told The Arizona Republic he feels the title is insensitive to the cause and "takes away the focus of a serious issue in this country."

Sinn said that was not her intention.

"I do not want to offend anyone with the name," she said. "I have had a lot of backlash and it's sad because it was honestly harmless and what I thought, positive."

The creepy clown hysteria has gotten so widespread, there's a Twitter account dedicated to sightings.

The trend has even reached Southern Arizona.

From Nogales to Sahuarita, to right here in Tucson, social media has been blowing up with many people claiming to have seen a creepy clown or know someone who has.

The University of Arizona Police Department said they've wasted resources pursuing these claims.

The department said it received between 20 and 30 calls from concerned students and parents after seeing fake pictures posted on social media on Monday.

Tucson News Now spoke with several law enforcement agencies in the area, but not one was able to confirm any official reports of these creepy clowns, despite pictures and videos making the rounds on social media.