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The clown paint and overtly masculine music of Insane Clown Posse – during the march Shaggy 2 Door described the band’s output as “the world’s most hated music” – has given the band and their adherents something of a comical air.

But the FBI designation of Juggalos as a “loosely-organized hybrid gang”, made in its 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment, has had real consequences for fans of the group.

“Many Juggalos subsets exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence” the FBI assessment said. “Law enforcement officials in at least 21 states have identified criminal Juggalo sub-sets, according to [National Gang Intelligence Center] reporting.”

Insane Clown Posse say that designation is unfair, claiming various people who commit crimes could often be said to be fans of certain musicians.

A number of Juggalos, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan and Insane Clown Posse themselves, are attempting to have the ruling overthrown. Until then, Juggalos are suffering.

Todd Okan, 35, was among those on the mall. He said he was pulled over by police in Sacramento, California, because he had stickers of Insane Clown Posse’s “hatchet man” mascot on his car.

“They said these symbols are considered a gang symbol,” Okan said. “They were asking me, like: ‘Are you a leader of this gang?’” Okan, who is an accounting auditor, said he was not in a gang.

“I was like: ‘This is the music I listen to.’”