Home
Search
Contact
First Lawsuit

Date: September 25, 2012

Lawsuit: the FBI improperly withheld records the group through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Website: www.juggalosfightback.com

Insane Clown Posse has filed a lawsuit in Flint federal district court demanding the Federal Bureau of Investigations turn over information that led the agency to list the Juggalos as a gang.

The suit filed Tuesday September 25, 2012 claims the FBI improperly withheld records the group through a Freedom of Information Act request.

ICP claims it asked the FBI Aug. 24, 2012 for information regarding the investigation that led to the Juggalos being listed as a gang in the National Gang Intelligence Center’s 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment Emerging Trends report.

The request specifically seeks information related to certain passages of the report that refer to the Juggalos as a “loosely-organized hybrid gang” and that they “exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence."

The suit claims the FBI so far has failed to turn over the records by the statutory deadline.

Insane Clown Posse announced the lawsuit on their website on Tuesday September 25, 2012

“The Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records have kept their word and filed a lawsuit against the FBI on behalf of the Juggalo Family TODAY!” the website reads.

Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records’ legal counsel, Hertz Schram PC, has released the following statement:

“Hertz Schram PC, by Howard Hertz and Elizabeth Thomson, on behalf of Insane Clown Posse and Psychopathic Records, has filed suit against the FBI in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging the FBI’s violation of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for its failure to produce any documentary evidence in support of the FBI’s classification of the groups’ fan base, the Juggalos, as a gang in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment: Emerging Trends.”

Insane Clown Posse, which is based in Oakland County, then defended its fans in the expletive-laden statement, likening them to Jimmy Buffet’s Parrot Heads and the Grateful Dead’s DeadHeads.

“We are not a gang! We are a family!” the statement says. “We come together for our luv of the Insane Clown Posse, Psychopathic Records, and our Juggalo pride.”

Farris F. Haddad, who is serving as the legal adviser in the case, also issued a statement maintaining the distinction between gangs and music fans.

“The FBI either does not have much information backing up their labeling of Juggalos as a national street gang, or if they do, it is so flimsy they are certainly hesitant to share it — Because music fans are, simply, not the same thing as a gang,”

Summons have been issued for the FBI in the case but the bureau has yet to file a response to the allegations, according to court records.

A website www.juggalosfightback.com has also been set up for self-described Juggalos to fill out a legal action questionnaire to report any negative interactions they have had with law enforcement or government authorities since the group was labeled as a gang. ICP says any information that is submitted will be reviewed by their legal team and no cost to the Juggalo.

Back to top