Residents in Louisville, Kentucky are being warned that a real life “Purge” could be planned for this weekend, and police say they are ready.

As reported by WLKY, Louisville Metropolitan Police report that posters and fliers have sprung up advertising that a ‘Purge’ crime spree would be in effect on Friday from 8:30 pm to Saturday at 6:30 am for residents in Kentucky’s largest city. Louisville MPD released a statement on the posters and fliers assuring residents that the department will be ready if there are any sort of mass disturbances.

Spokesman Dwight Mitchell said:

“We take any threat seriously and fortunately we’re hoping that nothing happens as a result, but we’re prepared in case something does.”

The popularity of the Purge films, coupled with world events like the Israel/Hamas conflict, ISIS’s march on Iraq, and even the unrest in the Ukraine and the riots in Ferguson, Missouri have brought the violent subject matter into the public conscience.

The Purge is a fictional movie series where, sometime in the near future, the government allows all crimes to be legal for 12 hours, and as you can guess, the inmates completely run the asylum. Murder, rape, assault and theft are all legal, and residents are forced to lock up their homes and go on defense during the tense 12 hours. The first Purge film, which starred Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Assault on Precinct 13) and Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), was a moderate success as reported in The Inquisitr last summer.

The sequel, Purge: Anarchy, starring Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), opened last month to decent reviews and was the number one movie in the country on its opening weekend. The film grossed over $96 million dollars in less than a month in theaters.

This ‘purge’ threat comes on the same weekend of the opening of the Kentucky State Fair, which is held at the Kentucky Exposition Center, and police patrols are already spread thin covering the popular event that draws thousands from all over the blue-grass state.

While it could only be a prank used to incite fear and anxiety in the local Louisville community, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department is taking it very seriously and will be ready to act if anything does happen. This crime spree threat could be a series of very isolated events and not a government-sanctioned program as portrayed in the films. The supposed real life purge is set to begin at sundown on Friday.

[Image courtesy of digitaltrends.com]