[sutble]

>After the prisoners' sentences were completed, the town celebrated with a circus. The performance included an arrest of its own: A clown dressed as a cop entered the audience, grabbed a surprised Sinclair, and marched him away from the show.

Surely the author meant to write a cop dressed as a clown?

[ISKthrow]

Wat? No, a cown dressed like a cop. Pretty explicit. A cop dressed as a clown would not be recognized for anything else than a clown. A clown dressed as a cop will be seen as a clown dressed as a cop. Or maybe I'm crazy...

[bmelton]

The previous paragraphs insist that they had no police department, so unless they skipped or abridged the timetable, it seems most likely that it was a clown dressed as a cop.