Capitalized or not, the law does not require one to be shot or knifed before they defend themselves from a lethal threat. Fact is, people are dressing up as clowns and attacking others. No less than the President of the US has acknowledged the danger. Including that information in the assessment of a clown threat is ALSO the law.
Terrorism is illegal. Terrorism is considered a lethal threat under the LAW.
The definition of a threat hinges on two conditions that must be present: ability to inflict harm and intent to inflict harm
In this case, no ability was present unless you believe that somehow balloons can be used to cause bodily harm.
In this case, no intent to inflict harm was present unless you believe that somehow, walking down the street in a costume automatically infers a threat. If that is the case, Halloween should be a very fearful time for you.
Further, when the clown turned to run away, all threats real or imagined were removed from the situation. Do you know why police are prohibited from shooting a fleeing suspect? Because there is no threat by the fugitive.
Why do you keep making that false claim?
Show me a single incident where a "Creepy Clown" was arrested for assault.
It's not like a guy in a clown costume is hard to find after the fact.