In 2011, the FBI designated Juggalos a gang.
It might not sound like much,
but Juggalos, the name given to fans of the hip hop horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse,
say it's led to discrimination from police and employers.
On Saturday, more than a thousand Juggalos marched in DC to protest the FBI ruling.
On the morning of the protest, I met Chris Fabritz,
otherwise known as Mankini, who's well known in the Juggalo community.
– Hey! – Hello! I'm Adam.
– Adam! Chris, man. Pleasure to meet you! – Nice to meet you!
Chris was hosting 15 Juggalos at his two-bedroom apartment
in Germantown, Maryland.
It's pretty.
– What does that mean to you?
– It means you should be allowed to listen to whatever the hell you want to listen to.
It doesn't matter if you're a Juggalo. It doesn't matter who you are.
If you want to listen to music, listen to it.
Just look around this room at the people. Do any of these people look like
gangbangers to you?
– Well, maybe that one. – This one here?
– No, no one looks like a gangbanger, let me just clarify.
Zee has travelled all the way from Idaho to be here.
He feels he's found a home among his fellow Juggalos.
I'm really not one for society. It's hard to hold my tongue.
I don't like people. I like Juggalos, that's it.
Why do you like Juggalos and not so much other people?
Because Juggalos have so much empathy for each other.
They have so much compassion for each other. They'll never let anything happen
to each other.
Look at this motherfucker's chin! I mean, society says that ain't right.
But I say that's the shit!
We don't have to worry about outside influence and outside … fucking … perception
because we don't give a shit about them. We're here for each other.
– Is this 'BJs matter'? – No, this is my sister's initials, dawg.
The Juggalos are gathered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial.
There seemed to be a real sense of unity.
– Hug! You get a hug!
Are we some kind of joke? Tell me, are we a joke?
– No!
Are you a gang member? Tell me, Miss, what are you?
Are you a gang member?
– Fuck no! I am a Juggalo!
Jason Faanes described himself as a minister in the fellowship of Juggalos.
We are the outcasts. We are the downtrodden.
The forgotten stains in the pavement. The folks that you wouldn't bring
to your local mainstream church, because maybe he's got one too many piercings
or this person's an unwed mother.
A lot of times folks come from broken homes and Juggalos will even profess
and say that the Juggalo family is the only home that they've known.
I managed to grab a word with Chris, who was proving to be a popular figure.
My man! Mad love!
We're about two hours away from the march. There are a lot of people here.
How does it feel now that you're surrounded by Juggalos?
I mean, look at us. We're just chilling and hanging out.
I mean, if this is gang activity, then, I mean ...
I guess we're a gang, if this what you consider a gang.
A bunch of people hanging around, drinking water, helping each other out.
That shows you what this Juggalo thing is all about, man.
It's just love for one another.
There was a celebratory atmosphere. But the FBI's gang designation
has had serious consequences.
So I was a probation officer for the Department of Corrections in Virginia.
The four years I was on staff, I never had any disciplinary action.
No write-ups or anything like that. And then I was called into my chief's office
and she tells me that I'm being placed on leave.
due to my association with the Juggalo gang.
And I was like, 'What?!'
She showed me some Facebook pictures that I had liked.
It's not that I posted them.
I'd gone to other ICP fan club pages and I clicked like on certain photos.
That's that. I haven't been able to get work since,
not by lack of trying. But no one will hire me.
It's been two years. I'm starving
and I want to work.
– Did you like your job? – Loved it.
Bad question.
– I'm sorry.
– I didn't leave my house for a year. I didn't go outside and leave my house.
To say that the effects of it have been devastating would be
a serious understatement.
By late afternoon, Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J,
AKA Insane Clown Posse, took to the stage to speak.
– You can feel it in your gut,
we're the good guys! We're actually in the right this time!
I don't give a fuck what the intelligence says.
Juggalos possess mad wisdom!
Let's march, motherfuckers!
What are we?
Family!
– Family! What? – Family!
For years, Juggalos have been derided by those on the outside.
They've confused and amused those in the mainstream.
The Juggalos have existed in their own insular, close-knit community,
and perhaps they would have been happy to remain that way.
But the FBI's 'gang' ruling has brought them out of that safe space.
And for the first time, Juggalos have felt the need to engage
in political activism. They were determined to make their point peacefully.
– I've been a Juggalo more than half my life.
I've been kicked out of schools, I've been put on fucking, super-intense
gang probations. And all that it is is just music.
It's just ridiculous. We're good people,
you know what I mean?
Look at that!
What is that for? What are they protesting?
– They're called Juggalos.
At the end of the march, I caught up with a sweaty, happy Chris.
– I think we've done our job. I think we've finally proven
that we're not everything that everyone's been saying we are.
We're human beings. We're trying to show everyone that.
And I think today we did that. Whether or not the FBI
takes that to heart and says, 'We fucked up',
that's on them. I don't know what happens after today.
I don't know if America goes, 'Man, we really got these Juggalos wrong.'
And if they don't, so be it, that's on them,
because they're missing out on something really great here.
A lot of us were the outcasts. We were the kids that were picked on.
You know what I mean? This is a family,
and this is where people who may have been outcast in their life,
they can come here and belong.