Insane Clown Posse sues FBI, says Juggalos are not a gang

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      The Insane Clown Posse has teamed up with the ACLU to sue the U.S. Department of Justice along with the FBI over assertions that its fan base constitutes a gang.

      Juggalos, as fans of ICP are known as, were classified as "a loosely-organized hybrid gang" that was "expanding into many U.S. communities” in the FBI's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment.

      The plantiffs, which include ICP founders Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler (aka Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope), along with four Juggalos from Nevada, California, North Carolina and Iowa, saw their complaint filed today (January 8) in federal court in Detroit.

      In the complaint, lawyers note that, "Organized crime is by no means part of the Juggalo culture."

      The Juggalos involved with the case claim they have been unfairly harassed and detained by police due to their fandom; one of the complaints claims he was denied entry into the U.S. military due to his Juggalo tattoos.

      Saura Sahu, a lawyer working on behalf of plantiffs, disagreed with the FBI's assessment, telling reporters, "What would it be like if the Department of Justice decided to brand all Deadheads, not just as criminals but as criminal gang members because some of them used or even sold drugs? I think we would all think that's ridiculous."

      The FBI has until March to repond to the suit or ask for a dismissal.

      ICP previously filed suit against the FBI in 2012 in order to obtain the documents the agency had based its gang designation upon.

      In a post on the band's website today, ICP stated, "The ACLU and Miller Canfield both think that the discrimination, profiling and harassment that Juggalos have been facing over the last few years in flat out WRONG and un-American so now they will be helping us fight our case in court. This represents a MAJOR victory for all Juggalos and I guaran-fucking-tee you that if anyone was laughing at the Juggalos VS. FBI case before, no one is laughing now."

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