Insane Clown Posse is petitioning for the removal of Juggalos from an official list of American gangs, saying the FBI is trying to ‘kill our band’.

Insane Clown Posse have announced plans to sue the FBI, petitioning for the removal of their fans from an official list of American gangs.

The hip-hop duo said they may seek financial restitution for the inclusion of “Juggalos” on the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report, published in November.

“We’re not attacking the FBI, but they got this wrong,” wrote Violent J, AKA Joseph Bruce.

Calling it “probably the biggest announcement of our career”, Violent J, his partner Joseph Utsler (Shaggy 2 Dope) and their label Psychopathic Records said they have “retained legal counsel to investigate and pursue legal action including monetary compensation and/or other injunctive relief on behalf of [our] fan base”.

“It’s been almost a year since Juggalos were put on the National Gang Threat Assessment and we are hearing too many stories from our fans about the trouble it’s causing them,” said Shaggy 2 Dope. “Just because you like a music group doesn’t make you a criminal.”

Since the early 1990s, tens of thousands of Insane Clown Posse fans have rallied under the Juggalo name, sipping Faygo soft drink and attending the band’s annual gathering of the Juggalos, in the American midwest. But the subculture took a bizarre turn last autumn, when the FBI designated the group a “loosely organised hybrid gang”.

Juggalos, the threat assessment report said, were “of concern to law enforcement”, exhibiting “gang-like criminal activity” and threatening communities “due to the potential for violence, drug use/sales, and their general destructive and violent nature”.

With their new campaign, Violent J said, Insane Clown Posse plan “to do something huge for our fans, and the world”. The band have launched a website, Juggalos Fight Back, which encourages fans to submit accounts of any “negative consequence” they have experienced from officials.

“[The FBI is] trying to kill our band,” Insane Clown Posse said, “and we have to fight back.”

The FBI have yet to respond.

For more on this story go to: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/music/hiphop-duo-to-sue-fbi-over-fans-gang-label-20120815-2487w.html#ixzz23d3hQPX8