Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J Addresses America’s Clown Hysteria

The clown/rapper says we have it all wrong.

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(Photo: Joey Foley/Getty Images)

At last, the definitive authority on clowning, Violent J from clown/rap duo Insane Clown Posse, has spoken out about America’s ongoing clown-demic.

In an op-ed posted to TIME, Violent J argues our current clown spook is distracting Americans from the more dangerous and insidious clowns at large.

There’s a whole army of scary, terrifying and dangerous clowns out there in this country trying to suppress the rights of thousands of people to exercise the most basic part of the Declaration of Independence, which evokes the freedom to “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The only difference is these clowns don’t wear greasepaint.

Violent J uses the term “clown” loosely, referring not to the unicycle-riding, balloon animal-tying jesters that have long terrorized children’s birthday parties, but rather to politicians and big government.

These clowns threaten the very fabric on which our nation was supposedly founded upon—and for some f—ing crazy-a– reason, they’re getting away with it. From keystone-cop clowns shooting unarmed citizens, to racist clowns burning down Islamic centers or clowns in the NSA spying on us through our cell phones and laptops, America has turned into something far more terrifying than Insane Clown Posse’s Dark Carnival. Even a scrub like me who dropped out of school in ninth grade can see what’s going on. Today’s reality is scarier than anything you’ll ever hear on one of our albums.

Violent J has good reason to be sore at the U.S. government. The FBI notably branded the group’s ardent fanbase, known as the Juggalos, a “loosely organized hybrid gang.”

If you want to see the ultimate example of these “killer clowns” in action, consider what happened to our hard-working, mostly blue-collar fans, the Juggalos. In 2011, the FBI named the Juggalos in its National Gang Threat Assessment. Ever since, they have been targeted, profiled and blatantly discriminated on by law enforcement agencies across America. Over the last four years, we’ve been working with our legal team and the ACLU of Michigan, to prove to the U.S. Department of Justice that this completely ridiculous gang label slapped on Juggalos is literally destroying lives. […] Recently, there was a probation officer who was let go for being identified as a Juggalo, and her employer had no problem writing it as the reason for her severance in her termination paperwork. Others have lost their jobs, custody of their kids and been subject to illegal search and seizure.

Next time you read of killer clowns emerging from the woods or chasing after schoolbuses with crowbars, ask yourself: Who’s the real “clown”?

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