Juggalo March on Washington

Overview

2017 Juggalo March on Washington refers to a protest led by the rap musical duo the Insane Clown Posse against the Federal Bureau of Investigation classifying their fans, "The Juggalos," as a gang. The FBI's classification has led to Juggalos receiving increased punishment for criminal activity, loss of jobs and other legal discrimination, despite the group's insistance that they are not a gang.

Background

In October 2011, the F.B.I.^[1] released the National Gang Threat Assessment: Emerging Trends. Within their reporting, they included a section on fans of the circus-themed rap duo The Insane Clown Posse, also know as "Juggalos." The report describes Juggalos as:

"The Juggalos, a loosely-organized hybrid gang, are rapidly expanding into many US communities. Although
recognized as a gang in only four states, many Juggalos subsets exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence."

According to a March 2017 Wired^[2] magazine article, the F.B.I. decided to designate the fans as a gang due to a pair of drug busts that happened to involved Juggalos.

On the weekend of July 23rd, 2016, during their annual Gathering of the Juggalos event, the Insane Clown Posse announced the 2017 March on Washington, a protest event to stand against the F.B.I.'s classification, which they say has led to legal discrimination against their fanbase. Detroit News^[3] reported that one of the I.C.P. members, Violent J, said during the group's performance:

"In 2017, the weekend of Sept. 17, we need you. We’re gonna do a (expletive) march on Washington. They call the Juggalo World a movement, right? Well, let’s move! We are going to explain to the world who the (expletive) we really are. The following day, on Sunday, Sept. 17, the group will throw a picnic for fans,"

Developments

On December 21st, 2016, the Twitter^[4] account @juggalomarch launched. The account tweets information, news and organizing materials for the March.

In January 2017, the I.C.P. launched a website for their march. The site elaborates on the March's intensions. On the homepage, the site reads:

"As many of you are no doubt personally aware, the FBI’s inclusion of Juggalos as a “gang” has resulted in hundreds if not thousands of people subjected to various forms of discrimination, harassment, and profiling simply for identifying as a Juggalo. Over the past five years, our legal team has heard testimonies and reports from Juggalos all over the nation who have lost custody of their children, been fired from jobs, denied access into the armed forces, and the most common consequence -- being officially labeled as a gang member by law enforcement agencies for wearing Juggalo related clothing or brandishing one or more Juggalo tattoos. A simple traffic stop for a broken tail light can -- and has -- resulted in an otherwise law-abiding, hard-working, taxpaying citizen being put on a local or state list of gang members simply for displaying their Juggalo pride. Being labeled a gang member can be a permanent stain on an individual’s life, since it will come up in a simple background check every single time. Whether that person is applying for a job, trying to adopt a child, join the armed forces, or attempting to acquire housing … their name may pop up as being “gang-affiliated,” even if that person has never been charged with any kind of crime."

On January 26th, Redditor ^[6] TaquitoLaw posted about the March in the /r/news subreddit. The post received more than 1,000 points (83% upvoted) and 500 comments.

On August 16th, CBS News^[7] reported that a rally in support of United States President Donald Trump was scheduled for the same day as the Juggalo March. Redditor kicker58 posted about the news in the /r/politics^[8] subreddit. It received more than 840 points (96% upvoted) and 500 comments.

On August 18th, Twitter^[5] published a Moments page about one user's tweets in support of the Juggalo March on Washington. The Moments page received more than Twitter user @drivenbyboredom posted a thread about the March. His tweets (shown below) received more than 1,400 retweets and 2,400 likes in less than 24 hours. He wrote:

"Okay, it’s time to talk about the Juggalo March On Washington. This is a real thing that is happening on September 16th. People are already laughing at it and think the march is a joke but if you care about civil rights you might want to take it seriously. Juggalos are marching on Washington because the FBI classified juggalos as a gang. Anyone who as spent five minutes trying to understand juggalos would see they aren’t a gang. It’s an insane notion. It’s like saying the KISS Army is a gang or Deadheads or anything els. It’s fucking silly as hell. However, this gang classification has serious as impact for juggalos who tend to be poor and undereducated already. Here are some real life impacts that the juggalo gang classification has had. People have lost their jobs because of juggalo tattoos. They have lost custody battles. People have been dishonorably discharged from the military for gang tattoos. Juggalos have been pulled over for the cops and been searched because ICP stickers are now probable cause. Juggalos who get arrested for non-violent offenses are treated as gang members and added to gang lists. This all might seem hilarious to you but people are having their lives ruined over a tattoo they got of their favorite band in high school. So if you give a fuck about justice you should give a fuck about this. Liberal s should get on board because it is a civil rights issue and conservatives should get on board because it’s government overreach. Long story short, take the Juggalo March on Washington seriously. It’s more important than you think. End of thread.

March Day

On September 16th, 2017, the march was held in Washington, D.C., several blocks away from a rally held by supporters on President Donald Trump. According to The Daily Dot, various speakers at the event spoke out against hatred and intolerance, while attendees displayed signs with messages like "Faygo, not Fascism," "Black Juggalos Matter" and "Fuck Nazis." That day, many Twitter users posted photographs of various attendees (shown below).

The following day, the ReasonTV YouTube channel uploaded a video about the event, featuring interviews with attendees and organizers (shown below). Also on September 17th, Redditor kicker58 submitted a gallery of photographs taken at the rally to /r/washingtondc.^[13]

Media Coverage

Several news outlets covered the March, including The Hill,^[9] The New York Daily News,^[10] GQ,^[11] Billboard^[12] and more.

Search Interest

External References