The often-maligned Insane Clown Posse members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope just won a big victory in court in their appeal in a lawsuit against the FBI, who'd listed their Juggalo fan base as gang and were sued for it. Their original lawsuit, assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, had been initially dismissed from a district court in January 2014 but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati overturned that decision this past Thursday (Sept. 18). The courts had originally determined that ICP had failed to prove "injuries suffered."
Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope's filed the lawsuit after the FBI National Gang Intelligence Center filed a report that called Juggalos were a "loosely organized hybrid gang." The report associated the clown logo as a gang emblem. The members based the lawsuit on allegations that the label caused members to lose their jobs, be discharged from the military and were even discriminated against to the point of being evicted from their homes. The assertion of ICP as an organized gang also caused several concerts to be cancelled.
The official statement released on their site after the victory read, "We're thankful that the Juggalo family will finally get their day in court. Discrimination against someone based solely on the type of music they listen to is just flat out wrong and it's time that the legal system acknowledges that. The FBI's labeling of Juggalos as a gang has wreaked havoc on thousands of lives, resulting in job losses, dismissal from military service, eviction, lost child custody and constant harassment and profiling from law enforcement organizations all across the country."
No matter how the general public views ICP, they clearly do take their fans seriously, and after the first ruling Violent J said, "We don't know if we can beat the FBI, but we're damn sure not gonna sit here and accept it."
If you've ever watched any Gathering Of The Juggalos footage, it is downright scary.
