Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI is urging a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by the rap duo Insane Clown Posse, claiming the have no right to sue the bureau over its decision to classify fans of the musicians as members of a “loosely organized hybrid gang,” the Guardian reports.
Lawyers for the federal government claim the bureau should not be held responsible for how local law enforcement used the FBI’s report on gangs, which included an assessment of the fans known as “Juggalos.”
The band is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The Juggalos are fighting for the basic American right to freely express who they are, to gather and share their appreciation of music, and to discuss issues that are important to them without fear of being unfairly targeted and harassed by police,” Michael Steinberg of the Michigan ACLU said when the case was brought. “Branding hundreds of thousands of music fans as gang members based on the acts of a few individuals defies logic and violates our most cherished of constitutional rights.”
The FBI argued that the FBI only labeled a “subset” of the fans a members of a criminal gang.
