In 2011, a report from the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center classified juggalos as a “loosely organized hybrid gang,” marking surely the first time an American law enforcement institution has officially named members of a certain music-based subculture as, essentially, criminals. You don’t have to like ICP’s music to respect their mission here. The suit follows ICP's 2012 complaint alleging that the FBI had violated the Freedom of Information Act by failing to disclose adequate documentation justifying its gang classification, which is currently still pending. Yet last July, according to the complaint, a plaintiff who drives a semi-truck sporting a Hatchetman logo was stopped, searched and detained by a Tennessee state trooper.
– Insane Clown Posse is taking on the feds on behalf of their fans. The duo filed a lawsuit today against the FBI and the Justice Department over the designation of their followers—Juggalos—as a gang. "Organized crime is by no means part of the Juggalo culture," says the complaint. The ACLU is helping with the lawsuit, which includes four fans who say they got treated unfairly by law enforcement because they were Juggalos, reports the New York Times. (One, for example, says he was detained by troopers in Tennessee because he had a logo on his truck.) "We don't fit in anywhere," the ICP's Violent J tells Rolling Stone. "And when people don't understand you, people fear you. All we're trying to do is be like the Stephen King of music. We like to tell horror stories." No response yet from the feds, but the sentiment in the music world seems to be squarely behind the band. "You don’t have to like ICP’s music to respect their mission here," writes Tom Breihan at Stereogum. "Juggalos may be an unruly bunch, but it would be a massive stretch to label them as a gang, loosely organized or not. And when one subculture is subject to institutional demonization, the same can happen to any other."