A lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Insane Clown Posse over an FBI report labeling the group and their fans as gang members, according to the Associated Press.
The suit was filed on Wednesday on behalf of Joseph Bruce, or Violent J, and Joseph Utsler, or Shaggy 2 Dope, claiming the gang label has "tarnished reputations and hurt businesses," the AP reported. The lawsuit will include four of their fans as plaintiffs.
The two rappers wore their face paint, a trademark feature of their rap group identity, during a news conference in Detroit and said they want the their fans, referred to as Juggalos, removed from the report, claiming they are more like family than a gang, the AP reported.
"Our merchandise sales are just about cut in half. ... You don't see the stickers in the back windows anymore because everyone's afraid to wave the flag in their car," Bruce said, according to the AP. "They're afraid they're going to get pulled over and harassed."
The FBI report was released in 2011 and labeled Juggalos, fan's of Insane Clown Posse, as a "loosely organized hybrid gang," and added that many Juggalos have been arrested for assaults and vandalism with a "small number" having committed more serious crimes, the AP reported.
The lawsuit states the rap group's description as a gang violates free speech and due process, according to the AP.
"It is a quintessential civil liberties case challenging government abuse," Michael Steinberg, the legal director of ACLU Michigan, told the AP.
According to Bruce, who is 41-years-old, Juggalos have been discriminated against because of the label placed by the FBI and cited cases where children were removed from their parents custody just because they were fans, according to the AP.
"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?" Saura Sahu, one of the group's attorneys, said, in regards to the band The Grateful Dead, the AP reported.
One of the fans suing is 28-year-old Scott Gandy from North Carolina who claims to have been discriminated against by the Army because of his Insane Clown Posse tattoos, according to the AP.
Gandy says he was told by a sergeant he needed to get rid of his tattoos before he applied to the Army, but he was denied even after going through the costly and painful procedure, the AP reported.
After the report was published by the FBI, Insane Clown Posse attorney's sued the government in order to obtain the records used in classifying the group and their fans as "gang members," the AP reported. The FBI sent more than 100 pages, consisting mostly of newspaper articles about arrests, and refused to send any other material due to exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act for sensitive material.
