fbi widens juggalo net

CLOWN NEWS EXCLUSIVE - FBI WIDENS JUGGALO NET

by David "Homizyde" Thorpe, Clown News Staff

 

The recent revelation that the FBI has classified the Juggalo family as a gang has rocked the clown nation. While a few in the fam relish the notoriety, most Juggalos resent being characterized as violent thugs.

 

"Most crimes committed by Juggalos are sporadic, disorganized, individualistic, and often involve simple assault, personal drug use and possession, petty theft, and vandalism," reads the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment. "However, open source reporting suggests that a small number of Juggalos are forming more organized subsets and engaging in more gang-like criminal activity, such as felony assaults, thefts, robberies, and drug sales."

 

"That ain't me," said Juggalo-affilliated underground rapper Jay "FaDizzle" Friedman, a two-time Gathering attendee who's been DWTC since 1998. "I might have rocked a few suckers in da face, but I don't roll with gang s--t or drug s--t or anything like what the FBI saying about the fam. I ain't a druggalo or a thuggalo or a dang buffalo."

 

"And if I ever do punch da crime clock," Friedman continued, "you can be sure the s--t won't be sporadic or disorganized."

 

The FBI has taken little notice of the Juggalo backlash; in fact, a recently issued addendum to the 2011 GTA doubled down on the implication that the family is a criminal enterprise. It seems that the Bureau is widening its gaze beyond the traditional borders of the Juggalo nation:

 

"While Juggalos can be recognized by their gothic clown makeup, baggy clothes, 'hatchet man' tattoos and whistles, other members of the extended hybrid gang may exhibit more elements of traditional clown attire. Law enforcement agencies should be watchful for rainbow wigs, red clown noses and oversized shoes; roving gangs of vandals dressed in cowboy-themed rodeo clown attire have been reported in Houston and Dallas, and a series of assaults involving seltzer spray have been documented in the greater Los Angeles area."

 

Is the FBI implying that Juggalos and traditional clowns are now part of a single hybrid criminal network? To Juggalos, the statement may seem bizarre; despite the clown makeup and carnival attitude of the family, tangible ties to the traditional arts of mime and clowning are few and far between. 

 

"I keep my clown life and my Juggalo life separate," says Jon "Skratchet" Hendren, a longtime San Francisco Juggalo who also works as a clown at birthday parties and parades. "I got totally different makeup for my Juggalo s--t and my Bozo s--t and never the twain shall meet, you feel me? They just two things I do, they ain't the same thing, and they sure as s--t ain't some kind of criminal thing."

 

"So now I'm a double criminal cause the FBI don't like Juggalos OR regular clowns? That s--t is wack."

 

Agents at the national FBI Headquarters declined repeated requests to clarify this characterization.

 

David Thorpe is a music journalist from the California Bay Area. His work has appeared in the Boston Phoenix, the New York Press and Wired Magazine. He is a Juggalo.