Joker audience ‘FLED’ cinema amid fears man would ‘start hurting people’

This weekend sees the release of Joker, a dark film that follows the origin story of Batman’s nemesis. Security measures have been in place across the US for fear of mass shooting attempts following a deadly one perpetrated by a man who supposedly called himself The Joker at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. This weekend a Californian cinema was shut down after police received a “credible threat” linked to the Joker film, while police presence has been heavy across the country. And now a report from New York claims audience members fled one cinema after a man’s concerning behaviour.

Spotted by Lad Bible, reports on Twitter claim a man allegedly cheered and clapped every time someone was killed on-screen in Joker.

This saw fears in the audience that he would “start hurting people.”

Allegedly, “a third of the audience” left the AMC Empire 25 by New York’s Times Square.

Cinemagoer Nathanael Hood tweeted a picture of a man, who was reportedly escorted out by security after the incident.

Hood wrote: “This is the guy who spent our entire screening of JOKER in NYC spitting at people and clapping whenever Joker killed somebody.

“Security escorted him out after a third of the audience fled the theatre out of fear that he’d start hurting people.”

READ MORE: JOAQUIN PHOENIX ON WHICH SCENE WAS CUT FROM JOKER

Audience member Etai Benson tweeted: “I was there. Dude sat next to me.

“I saw him pour a full bottle of tequila into his slushee b4 the movie started.

“When he stumbled away wasted, I thought he had left.

“But I guess he just sat somewhere else and started his clapping. S*** was scary – like a 4-D movie experience. “

Hood then shared a snap of the individual who confronted the man who caused fears to rise.

He tweeted: “This is the guy who calmly confronted the guy and deescalated the situation until security came.

“Coming out everybody was shaking his hand and calling him a hero. I asked for his name and he said V for Vegas. Not all heroes wear capes, folks.”

He later added: “So yeah, JOKER may be a dangerous movie. But is it a threat?

“Not as long as we got V for Vegas’s in this world.”

Joker is out now in cinemas and has received polarising reactions from critics and audiences.