Insane Clown Posse is planning to sue the FBI for classifying its fans as a national security threat. The group announced its intentions at its annual seminar, held not in a hotel ballroom or conference center somewhere, but rather the Gathering Of The Juggalos in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois.
The FBI first said Juggalos were a problem in its 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report, where it classified the group as “a criminal organization formed on the street.” That classification was backed up a couple of weeks ago, when the U.S. Marshal Service issued a press release regarding a New Mexico man who had been removed from the most wanted list, noting that he was part of the “Insane Clown Posse ‘Juggalo’ gang.”
Granted, it sounds ridiculous, but according to The Village Voice’s Camille Dodero—who was at the Gathering this weekend—belief that they're being targeted is an actual problem that the Juggalos face. She writes:
“Spend an hour wandering around the Gathering and you'll hear story after story after story about cops, schools, and bureaucracies discriminating against Juggalos for wearing Insane Clown Posse gear and their label's Hatchetman logo. There's the guy who lost his kids to a foster home because of his tattoo. There's the Juggalo who was discharged from the United States military for having a Psychopathic Records CD. There's the Wisconsin kid who was forbidden from wearing Insane Clown Posse shirts to school, but didn't have money for new clothes, so he kept getting suspended.”
ICP has now established a website, Juggalos Fight Back, where fans can report harassment, arrests, or any problems with the legal system faced because of their affiliation with the band or their fondness for face paint and tiny braids.
ICP’s Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope also told the Voice they feel like they’ve been “fucking [kicked] in the nuts” by the FBI, and thus are “doing the American thing” and suing. The duo say it's worried that if it doesn’t try to stop the alleged injustices now, ICP and all related enterprises could be shut down entirely in the near future. So they claim they will “spend everything we got” to prove that Juggalos are a “family of love who stands against fashion and culture and does its own thing”—and definitely not a gang. Both Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J say they’re also worried about their own legacy but that of their kids, whom they say are being raised as Juggalos.