Though it’s still more than a month away from Halloween, It‘s Pennywise wasn’t the only clown to make headlines this weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, a group of about 1,500 fans of the “horrorcore” rap duo Insane Clown Posse took to the streets in Washington, D.C., marching from Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. The fans—who call themselves “Juggalos”—convened to protest the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s classification of the group as a “loosely organized hybrid gang” in the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report. Juggalos claim they have experienced job discrimination and biased policing based on their musical interests since the designation. In 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the FBI on the grounds that its classification violated First Amendment rights, but their suit was dismissed twice.
The Juggalos marched on Saturday to prove that, contrary to their FBI designation, they are joined by mutual musical interests, not gang affiliation. Clad in greasepaint and apparel emblazoned with the ICP’s signature “hatchetman” insignia, some held signs saying “1st Amendment Warrior” and “Juggalo 4 Life.” Several posed in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for photographers, and told various reporters that they were a “family,” and not a gang. (One New Republic reporter at the March noted, “I’ve rarely felt safer among a group of protesters.”)
Though a pro-Donald Trump rally called “The Mother of All Rallies” also took place on the National Mall on Saturday afternoon, and had inspired some to suggest on social media that there would be a fight between the two groups, a heavy police presence prevented an outbreak of violence. Below, find some of the images from the Juggalos’ peaceful rally.
