Hundreds of Torontonians braved the cold weather to celebrate the 166th anniversary of the infamous Toronto Clown Riot of 1855. Many came out dressed as clowns, some with plastic swords, baseball bats or boxing gloves. Others had faux black eyes, bandaged heads and/or crutches.
It was a jovial affair until one apparently inebriated and quite reckless clown, identified as Alfredo, drove his clown car into a crowd. A child was knocked down by the car, which also then ran over the foot of one adult before coming to a stop resting against the calf of a third person. The child suffered a cut on his elbow while the two adults each claimed to have sprains, a toe and an ankle.
Witnesses say Alfredo became enraged and screamed at the man to get out of his way. Alfredo was then tackled by another clown and then beaten by a third clown with a crutch. That third man was said to be the father of the 6-year-old youth that had been knocked over.
Police soon arrived at the scene and order was restored. Alfredo was arrested on charges of drunk and disorderly and being a public nuisance. He seemed shocked and disappointed at his arrest saying he’d been looking forward to the celebration and was especially eager to “bring smiles to the children’s faces.” Alfredo then pulled hundreds of balloons from various pockets saying “these we’re all supposed to be balloon animals, now they’ll never have a chance!”
The clown downplayed the severity of his actions saying his act is “traditionally robust” and “that was more appreciated in the old days”.
From the back seat of the police cruiser, just before he was taken away, Alfredo exclaimed “It’s sad but people just don’t know funny anymore, eh?”
