Video Appears To Show Clown Threatened With Gun In Chicago
By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 12, 2016 6:01PM
Twitter
Well, this was probably inevitable. One truly horrible 2016 trend (Chicago guns) and one only-irritating trend (clown BS) come together in a recent video. The clip, purported to be filmed in Chicago, appears to show someone draw a handgun someone, yep, dressed as a clown.
Meanwhile in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/znMWMdjeeH
— K. Griffith (@kw_griff) October 10, 2016
The video was posted on Twitter by user K. Griffith, who told Chicagoist that rapper Billionaire Black filmed the video. Others posted that rapper FBG Duck was involved also—claims that were subsequently retweeted by Billionaire Black.
Neither immediately responded to requests for comment from Chicagoist. Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago police spokesperson, said the department is aware of the video but could not confirm whether or not an incident had been reported.
The story was first reported locally by DNA Info.
Pardon the cynicism, but the possibility that the video is all a studied viral campaign also must be considered. Black released a mixtape this past July and uploaded a video from one of the album’s tracks, “Oh Lord,” just this past Wednesday. The cut features FBG Duck and was directed by Chicago hip-hop videographer extraordinaire DGainz. If exposure was the intent, it seems successful: “Oh Lord” has been viewed more than 66,000 times as of Wednesday. Oh, and the user who posted the viral clown clip identifies herself as a “social and digital strategist” in her bio.
Lets hope it was all choreographed and can be filed under "savvy marketing," rather than whatever the hell we're supposed to make of incidents like this.
Update, 10/13:
Billionaire Black told Chicagoist that the video was not his. We will update this post as more information becomes available.
[H/T Reddit]