https://twitter.com/chrisconsiders/status/786055637121761284

The announcement comes after weeks of reported creepy clown sightings across the United States that have led to something approaching mass hysteria, playground panic and even some arrests.

The sightings began in August, when residents of Greenville County in South Carolina called authorities to report a clown, or someone dressed like one, “trying to lure children in the woods,” said the property manager of an apartment complex in Greenville.

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Sightings spread to North Carolina, then to Alabama and Kentucky. Soon, callers were reporting creepy clown sightings across the country — and even internationally. In the United Kingdom, authorities have responded to dozens of apparent clown sightings, including one in northeast England, where a man dressed as a clown and carrying a knife allegedly followed four children to school, reported CNN.

“We believe this to be part of a much larger prank which is currently sweeping across the USA and parts of the UK,” Durham neighborhood Sgt. Mel Sutherland said in a statement to CNN. “It is very alarming he was carrying a knife, however we do not think he intended to harm the children and as far as we are aware, this is part of the prank.”

Officials in Australia and Canada have also issued clown-related warnings.

In the United States, students have worn clown masks to class and a school district in Connecticut even banned clown costumes for Halloween. A Virginia middle school girl was arrested and charged with “one count of Threatening to Kill by Electronic Message” after she contacted an individual online whose profile photo was a clown and asked that person to murder one of her teachers.

Even the White House was asked to weigh in on the crisis.

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“Obviously, this is a situation that local law enforcement authorities take quite seriously,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a briefing this month. “And they should carefully and thoroughly review perceived threats to the safety of the community, and they should do so prudently.”

TV news reports have showed startled parents clinging to their young children at playgrounds. Clown mask sales are up from 2015, by 300 percent.

And in the most extreme cases, authorities have even arrested clown pranksters. In and near Detroit, authorities arrested two men this week for driving around town in clown garb to scare community members, including those at a fast-food drive-thru, reported the Detroit Free Press. Authorities are investigating a separate incident that shows a clown clinging to a city bus, which was captured on video, according to the newspaper.

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This irrational, or perhaps now rational, fear of clowns even has a name: coulrophobia.

A Rasmussen poll published in 2014 found that 43 percent of Americans “don’t like circus clowns,” and 6.8 percent of Americans face severe anxiety caused by clowns, according to the Chapman Survey of American Fears.

In the face of such bad PR, “good” clowns have banded together to reclaim their profession. Ron Anglin, a professional clown who works at a children’s health-care center in Atlanta, started using the hashtag #RealClownsAreAboutLove on social media to “counter all the horrible images out there,” he told BuzzFeed News.

“Fear mongering and hate mongering seem to be all the rage these days,” wrote another professional clown on Facebook. “Can we get some love? Real clowns want you to know that those scary creeps out there are part of the hate. Real clowns are real love. Spread the word. Defend our kindness!”

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A group in Tucson is organizing a “Clown Lives Matter” this week “to show that clowns are not psycho killers,” according to a flier, reported the Arizona Republic.

McDonald’s signature clown mascot has served as a similarly friendly marketer of the chain since he debuted in 1963. Ronald McDonald was originally played by Willard Scott in an ad in Washington. He now wears big floppy shoes and a puffy red wig, but then, the clown’s hat was a tray holding a Styrofoam burger, a bag of fries and a milkshake. He pulled hamburgers, magically, from his belt and wore a nose made from a McDonald’s cup.

The company has faced criticism in recent years from those who say McDonald’s uses the clown to market its famously unhealthy food to young children. But the company has always been protective of their beloved clown.

When the Associated Press asked in 2011 how many actors had played Ronald McDonald, an executive bristled at the idea that the company’s signature jester is not real.