The Insane Clown Posse Is Suing The FBI For Calling Them A Gang

Fuckin’ lawsuits – how do they work?

We’re just nine days in, but 2014 may already have a contender for “weird news story of the year.” In a move guaranteed to raise a few heavily painted eyebrows, Detroit’s Insane Clown Posse has filed a lawsuit against the FBI, who, they say, are infringing upon their rights by officially classifying Juggalos as a gang. ICP, of course, have always vigorously denied this designation – despite actually starting out as a street gang named the Inner City Posse in 1989 – and claim that the National Gang Threat Assessment from 2011 that identified Juggalos as a “loosely organized hybrid gang” is violating their fans’ constitutional rights.

It’s something that’s obviously been bothering them for some time. Back in early 2012, I spent a very weird evening driving around in a stripper-filled party bus with ICP – an evening that ended prematurely when an armed SWAT team shut down the warehouse party we were en route to. While the drastic police action ended up, somewhat unbelievably, being unrelated to ICP or their fans, it stirred up enough resentment for the conversation on the bus to focus on the FBI’s bogus classification for the next hour. Shaggy 2 Dope himself had the following to say when I asked him about it:

“What the fuck is that about? Juggalos ask me about it, and I tell them, ‘Are you in a gang? No? Then there’s your answer.’ We’re not in a fucking gang!”

So there you have it, although presumably, if this ever gets as far as a courtroom, someone’s going to have to word ICP’s statement a little more delicately than that. We just hope they’re allowed to wear their makeup while testifying – they’ll be the greatest courtroom sketches ever.

Photos by David Lewinski | Licensed to Alpha Media Group 2014