Insane Clown Posse launch legal fight for right to terrible, terrible taste

You might recall that a while back, the FBI looked at the Juggaloos, and decided that something was up. Rather than just being a bunch of dudes with questionable music taste and a surprising amount of time on their hands, the Feds saw a "loosely organized hybrid gang".

I know, viewed from almost anywhere this sounds a bit like the plot of a terrible movie. But in a terrible movie, the Juggaloos would bind together to fight off an alien invasion of the planet - having first tied up a balding, sneering FBI official and stolen his trousers - with the President declaring "we are all Jugaloos now" over the final reel. (You know what sucks? When this film gets made, it'll have to go for best adapated screenplay in The Oscars.)

However, life isn't a terrible movie. Life is much, much worse than that and so the Insane Clown Posse is instead going to sue the FBI.

They held a seminar to announce their plans.

I know, you're going 'am I reading that right? It sounded like the Insane Clown Posse held a seminar to announce an intention to sue a US Department of Justice agency'. That's actually it:

During the seminar, ICP's Violent J discussed how, at first, he didn't know how to respond to the FBI's accusations. But now, they've decided to pursue suing the FBI, "no matter what it costs or what it takes… The main fact is, we're not just layin' down and taking it up the ass." The tent erupted in cheers and chants of "Family," and many Juggalos started crying. As ICP's lawyer, friend, and longtime Juggalo, Ryan Farris said, "This is a family of love, this ain't no organized crime family."

To be fair to the FBI, Ryan, they did only call you loosely organised.

I'm not sure about Mr J's passive anal sex metaphor, to be honest - I can see what he was trying for, but I'm a bit lost as to how that metaphor carries forward; it could just imply that they're going to be a bit more of an active receiver. At this stage we just don't know. Perhaps it will all end in hugging.

While it's all a bit silly in abstract, there are claims that Insane Clown Posse fans are being unfairly treated simply because of their deep, deep love for terrible, terrible music:

One Juggalo, Shawn Wolf of Cottonwood, Arizona, burst into tears when ICP announced that they'd be helping out fans who have been profiled by police for their taste in music. Hugging a friend and saying, "You don't know how much this means to me." He explained that he'd lost custody of his young son solely because of his ICP fandom. "I've been a Juggalo since I was 16. The state of California flew to my house [to see if I was fit], and it's all ICP-decked out," he said. "Just because of that, I was kinda screwed."

Now, there's obviously no way of knowing if it's true that Wolf lost his son "solely" because of his posters and whatnot; it's impossible to say if it was even a factor. But if it was, that's clearly unacceptable; and it's to the Insane Clown Posse's credit that they're sticking up for their fans by supporting people who might have been singled out.

But is suing the FBI really the best solution here? That looks a little like belligerent grandstanding rather than trying to find a solution.

Supporting your fans who have been targeted is a good thing to do; exploiting them to build a myth and, thereby, sell more records, might be a bit of a misjudgement.