Michigan Town Reverses Clown Ban on Halloween After Backlash: 'People Have Phobias and Anxiety'

A Michigan town has reversed its ban on clown costumes at an annual Halloween event for children after social media users condemned the decision.

Oak Park officials initially included a new stipulation earlier this month when they announced the city’s annual Boo Bash event. Officials stated that children were permitted to dress as their favorite spooky characters, but “clown costumes not allowed.”

“This event is centered around young children. In the past few years many clown costumes have been given a very scary and evil look,” Recreation Director Laurie Stasiak told the Oakland County Times. “Many scary and horror movies are centered around these types of characters.

“About 3 years [ago] there were national incidents in the news were people were dressing up as clowns and scaring people and in some cases assaulting them. Many people have phobias and anxiety about clowns. It’s because of this that we asked people not to dress up as clowns for this community event.”

However, the rule for the Oct. 31 children’s event didn’t sit well with many social media users. Many commented on the Oakland County Times‘ Facebook post about the news.

“What’s scarier than clowns? I thought that’s what Halloween is all about!” one person wrote.

Clown costumes have sparked controversy in recent years. In 2016, repeated reports of creepy clowns across the country fueled the “clown panic” at the time. An expert previously told PEOPLE that the clown panics trace back decades, to the ’80s and reports of “phantom clowns” trying to lure or abduct children.

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Still, many social media users suggested that city officials may have been overreacting by implementing the ban. And, on Tuesday, City Manager Erik Tungate announced the reversal of the ban in a statement.

“The City will not ban people with clown costumes (or any other) from participating in the Boo Bash event, however, we are encouraging parents to use their best judgment given this is an event that caters to families and small children,” the statement read.

Oak Park city officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE.