Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos 1 Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos Deputy Christopher N. Pratt Gang/Intelligence Unit November 22, 2010 Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos 2 During my short time on the Sheriff Department’s Gang/Intelligence Unit one group seems to keep randomly popping up and catching my attention as I conduct various searches, member contacts, and so on. This group is comprised of fanatical followers of the rap group known as the Insane Clown Posse (ICP). On the streets they call themselves the Juggalos. Since the Juggalos keep randomly appearing and catching my attention, I felt the need to give them some measure of attention in attempts to try and teach myself more about them. I haven’t been able to find a significant source of collected data on the Juggalos, but what I did find were several chopped up pieces of information scattered throughout the web. I decided to put together some basic information to help other officers learn more about them. This is by no means an exhaustive narrative of the Juggalos, and I have done my best to provide an accurate list of references at the end of this document to verify the information I am providing. Basic History The rap group known as ICP was founded in the late 1980’s; however, the term “Juggalo” was first used in a concert in 1994 when ICP founders Joseph Bruce (aka Violent J) and Joseph Utsler (aka Shaggy 2 Dope) addressed their fans and followers as part of their Juggalo family. Bruce and Utsler are originally from Detroit, MI. Juggalo groups also fall under the Psychopathic Records hip-hop group which is comprised of ICP’s founding members and a handful of their associates also known as the Dark Lotus group. Juggalo Identifiers Juggalos are often relatively easy to identify even when not dressed up as clowns. Common dress can be defined as somewhat punk-rock or gothic in nature, and Juggalos will often wear ICP related clothing. Juggalo vehicles can be easily identified as they display ICP related decals. Black combat boots, pants or long shorts with metal pins, chains, needles, and etc., baggy t-shirts or tank tops, jackets or etc. with anything metallic are also common trends amongst the Juggalos. For obvious reasons, contact officers should consider Juggalos to be armed, and that many of these items on their clothing could be a potential weapon. As we all know; baggy clothing allows them to conceal weapons easily as well. The average Juggalo is almost a mirror image of the Gothic or Emo social groups. Most Juggalos tend to be Caucasians; pale in complexion, often from suburban neighborhoods, dressed in baggy clothing with ICP branded items, or even dressed as evil clowns face paint and all. However, Juggalo followers come from all walks of life. It is not uncommon to find a Juggalo from a rich r poor background, any and all ethnic backgrounds, and even various religious groups. There are also celebrities claiming to be Juggalos. Some popular Juggalo Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos 3 followers are pro wrestlers Kazushige Nosawa and Vampiro, rappers Chuck D, Coolio, King Fu Vampire, MURS, and Vanilla Ice. Most Juggalos will wear a tattoo of the Psychopathic Record’s logo called the Hatchetman. This is simply a silhouette of a cartoon man running with a hatchet in his hand. There has also been a female version of this symbol that has started to emerge recently. Examples of each are provided later in this document. Other tattoos are images from the ICP’s record album cover art, resembling some sort of evil clown. It is also common to see a Juggalo with different terms or phrases tattooed somewhere on their person. Usually you might see something like “Juggalo”, “Twizted”, “Evil Clown”, or “ABK” (Any Body Killa). The main threat from the Juggalos is that they tend to populate junior and senior high school children. They usually recruit social outcasts with antisocial behaviors, and those who simply do not fit in with everyone else. Because of their odd dress style and peculiar behaviors, Juggalos are often harassed by youths from other social groups. This mockery can probably be connected to some of the Juggalo outburst as they reach their breaking points from excessive harassment. One might think that as a young person grows into an adult that he or she might abandon such ludicrous behaviors, but many Juggalos continue to maintain this lifestyle. It is common to find Juggalos in their 20’s all the way up into their 40’s, and still actively participating. Juggalo Territories As mentioned earlier; the Juggalos began in Detroit, Michigan, but have been involved in crimes in Utah, Washington, Pennsylvania, Florida, Connecticut, and various areas in Colorado including Aurora, Arvada, Lakewood, Canon City, Pueblo, and Denver. As I mentioned earlier; the Juggalos can often be found in middle-class suburban areas, but it is not uncommon to find them running amok in ghetto or urban areas as well. The Gathering of the Juggalos (GOTJ) The Juggalos have an annual conference commonly referred to as “the Gathering of Juggalos”. This Gathering can be loosely defined as a sort of Woodstock for the Juggalo Family. The event usually lasts for approximately four days. There really is no common grounds for holding this circus because the Juggalos have trashed previous sites, and have been banned from returning to that area. The Gathering location and schedule is usually posted on the Gathering’s website www.juggalogathering.com, and usually has a wide assortment of different rappers, bands, DJ’s, and musical groups. Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos 4 The Gatherings have been known to become problematic as the members behave erratically, and are known to be under the influence of drugs/alcohol. Nudity, profanity, and violence are all common practices at a Juggalo gathering. At the 2010 Gathering two of the performers were attacked with bottles of the Faygo soda. Both were injured, and are planning to sue ICP for their injuries. Juggalo Crime Crimes related to the Juggalo family include murder, shootings, kidnapping, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, assault, and arson with no common pattern or trends. Crimes seem to be randomly acted out, and are often acts acted out by one or more individuals as opposed to an actual gang related incident. Juggalo related violence is usually a mob of Juggalos on one victim. They tend to run and fight in packs. The Juggalo “code” (as one might loosely refer to it) encourages all sorts of miscreant behaviors. They are not beyond committing violent, sexual, or even grotesque crimes, and in fact, such acts give a Juggalo a sense of pride and street credit amongst peers. The Juggalos claim to be strongly opposed to racism, bigotry, and snitches, but everything else is apparently okay. Most Juggalo news is easy to find on the web. Some Juggalo related crimes that made the news are as follows: February 1, 2006-Jacob Robida conducted a series of hatchet attacks and random shootings which took the lives of three people, including himself and a local police officer. June 18th and 20th, 2006-Washington. Several Juggalos dressed as clowns attacked park visitors in Tacoma. Nearly two dozen were injured, and the Juggalos threatened to kill and behead other visitors of the park. February 2007-Bryan Grove and his girlfriend Tess Damm were arrested murder for stabbing Tess’ mother to death. Grove pled down to second degree murder, and is up for parole in 30 years. Damm was charged with first degree murder, and another unnamed party was arrested for possible involvement. September 2008-Utah. 18 year old Blue Wynn and an unnamed 15 year old, both Juggalos, attempted to kidnap a 5 year old boy by trying to force him into a car. Witnesses described both would-be kidnappers by their distinguished style of dress, and the clown masks they wore. The boy was safely recovered. July 2008-Utah. Two teens lured a 17 year old out of his home, and then attacked him with a battle axe stabbing him over a dozen times. Police linked the crime to the Juggalos with a necklace the victim managed to tear off of one of his assailants. The necklace was a Juggalo symbol. November 1997-New Mexico. Joseph Bruce was arrested for assaulting one of his fans with a microphone. Bruce was released on a $5000 bond four hours after his arrest. Everything You Never Wanted to Know About the Juggalos 5 Early 1998-Indiana. Bruce and one of the former ICP band members had stopped at a Waffle House where they were harassed by one of the restaurant’s patrons. The band members retaliated by assaulting the customer. Months later Bruce plead guilty to disorderly conduct charges that had been reduced from battery charges. January 2000- Michigan. Rapper Eminem assaulted an associate of Bruce and Utsler’s, and threatened him with a gun in a parking lot. Eminem and ICP have maintained strong rivalries ever since. November 2010-Juggalo Ben “Suzpekt” Butler was hospitalized after drinking a Faygo soda that someone had laced with rat poison. No other information is available at this time, but another Juggalo is suspected of the crime. February 2009-Pennsylvania. US ARMY veteran, and soon to be police officer Michael Goucher was stabbed to death by two teenagers. Police say that as the teens were killing Goucher they acted out lyrics to songs from ICP’s albums.