The hoax of the killer clown of Rivas: “There is no testimony that can verify the existence of this character”

Halloween is approaching and the body knows it. And the networks. And the hoaxes. This is what has happened this week in the Madrid town of Rivas Vaciamadrid, where the old viral phenomenon of the killer clown supposedly stalking parks at night, frightening residents, and chasing women with a bat has been reborn. The heavy joke, boosted by the relentless spread of photos and videos on social media and even published as real by some media, has reached such proportions that the Local Police and the Civil Guard have come out to deny the existence of this character, for which the PP has even called for “responsibilities” from the City Council.

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A spokesperson for the Civil Guard explained to this newspaper on Saturday that in recent days “alarm signals have been observed on social networks caused by a supposed person dressed as a clown intimidating several people in Rivas,” so they took charge of the investigation “to verify whether the information obtained was real or not.” “After carrying out the appropriate checks, there is no testimony that can verify the existence of a person dressed as a clown in that town.” The Civil Guard, together with the Local Police of Rivas, “maintains the devices aimed at guaranteeing citizen security in the municipality,” added the same source.

In a written message on X this Friday, the Local Police also confirmed that “the presence of a person dressed as a clown intimidating people in Rivas is a hoax.” “We call for calm and also for the responsibility of those who have dedicated themselves to promoting fear among the citizens with this matter,” the message adds.

For days, the hoax has been circulating on social media, especially TikTok, and on the city’s Whatsapp groups, located 16 kilometers from the capital, next to the A-3, and with a population of 103,148 inhabitants. The posts placed the suspect, sometimes at the same time, at well-known points such as the Gloria Fuertes library, the Miguel Ríos auditorium, residential areas, or, what is even more frightening, in playgrounds.

The messages depict a clown who always goes out alone, at night, on weekdays, from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., and who dedicates himself to walking around with a bat chasing women and girls. Other intimidating behaviors are also attributed to him, such as throwing bottles at young people and even in some images he is seen brandishing a weapon in his hand. Several groups of people who had nothing better to do even organized night searches by car to try to find him, which they also posted on social media.

The snowball has even been believed by the PP. “What is happening with the clown of Rivas? Many neighbors have contacted us showing their concern. We ask the people of Rivas for prudence, responsibility, not to encourage social alarm and, in case of seeing a suspicious situation, to call 092 or 062,” said Janette Novo, president and popular spokesperson in Rivas, on Thursday in a video with epic music in the background broadcast on X. According to Novo, she had received, among others, a call from a neighbor who claimed to have crossed paths with the suspect “almost at two in the morning,” so she demanded an immediate reinforcement of night patrols.

In the video, in which it is requested not to share “uncontracted” images of the clown but which begins precisely with an image of the nonexistent clown, Novo asked the City Council, led by Aída Castillejo (IU), for “responsibility, transparency, clear answers, and certainty,” demanding that they treat this matter “seriously.” “They ask you not to spread nonsense, while they spread nonsense,” a neighbor replies to the popular spokesperson’s post, who has already tweeted that it is a hoax.

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The Local Police and the Civil Guard set up a joint operation, in which they reviewed the security cameras of the sighting points and patrolled the areas looking for the suspect. But what they have confirmed is that there is no record or real proof of his existence. “The calls [up to five] received in relation to this matter have turned out to be false alarms,” assures the Rivas police, who ask the population “to remain calm and to report only if they have really seen this individual, and not based on what they may have heard from third parties.”

The photographs show incoherent shadows, unrealistic proportions, and other elements that suggest they were crudely created with AI. “No photo of the clown is of good quality, in all of them he looks quite blurred and quite bad,” explains Juan José González, Rivas Security Councilor, to Telemadrid. González says that the Civil Guard has taken statements from all those who called claiming they had seen him “and then in the end they had not seen him.” Magic.

Case closed? No. The security forces are now tracing the origin of these posts to identify the spreaders of the hoax, reminding them that simulating crimes and deliberately spreading false content to provoke social alarm have criminal responsibilities: a fine of six to twelve months in the first case and, in the second, prison from three months to a year, or a fine of three to 18 months.

Although there were already cases in the eighties and nineties, the great viral phenomenon of terrifying or killer or sinister clowns was born in Greenville (South Carolina) 10 years ago, at the end of August 2016, where residents of an apartment complex reported to the police that people dressed as clowns with laser lights were trying to lure children into the woods with money. The authorities investigated, of course, but never found evidence or suspects.

This local urban myth, which feeds on atavistic childhood phobias and very popular characters like It by Stephen King, spread in the form of collective hysteria from the US around the world that year, including Spain. The spread of images on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube led teenagers across the country, and then worldwide, to buy masks, stand on dark corners to scare people, and record it to get views on social media.

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