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Insane Clown Posse Sues FBI
The crazy, face-painted hip hop duo wasn’t messing around when it threatened to sue the FBI to protect the honor of the group’s devoted fans, otherwise known as Juggalos and Juggalettes. Insane Clown Posse says it officially filed a lawsuit this week.
The lawsuit stems from the news that the FBI’s 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment included an entry for the Juggalos, describing fans as “a loosely-organized hybrid gang rapidly expanding into many U.S. communities.”
Besides scaring people who suffer from coulrophobia, what exactly is wrong with Juggalos? According to the assessment, “Most crimes committed by Juggalos are sporadic, disorganized, individualistic, and often involve simple assault, personal drug use and possession, petty theft and vandalism.” The FBI added, “However, open source reporting suggests that a small number of Juggalos are forming more organized subsets and engaging in more gang-like criminal activity, such as felony assaults, thefts, robberies and drug sales.”
In response to the report, ICP announced during its annual Gathering Of The Juggalos festival in August that it had launched the website JuggalosFightBack.com. Fans were invited to share any negative experiences with law enforcement that occurred based on their status as a Juggalo. ICP promised to educate fans about their legal rights and offered to fight for Juggalos in court.
A post on ICP’s website says the group has kept its word and a lawsuit was officially filed against the FBI Sept. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. A statement said the act was suing the FBI because it had failed “to produce any documentary evidence” that the Juggalos are a gang.
Along with the official statement, ICP had more to say about the topic.
“The idea of calling the Juggalos and Juggalettes a “gang” is straight up bullshit. We are not a gang! We are a family! We come together for our luv of the Insane Clown Posse, Psychopathic Records, and our Juggalo pride. Can we take a fuckin’ second to note that Jimmy Buffet’s Parrot Heads, Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters, Justin Bieber’s Beliebers, the Grateful Dead’s DeadHeads and many more haven’t been labeled as a gang?”
For more information and updates visit InsaneClownPosse.com and JuggalosFightBack.com.