It’s 11 a.m. on an overcast morning in Berkeley in 2017, and I’m handing out cold bottles of Faygo soda at a protest, in between bouts of police swarming us to keep us unsteady. While the mood is a little tense, we’re doing our best to relieve it with some loud, cheerfully defiant music and sugary soft drinks. The anxiety dissipates somewhat when the crowd see our faces. Half of the crowd sport the signature clown makeup of Shaggy 2 Dope, the other half the markings of Violent J from the rap duo Insane Clown Posse. 

The ICP was formed by Joey Utsler and Joseph Bruce in 1989. Over the next 30 years, the Detroit group's horrorcore take on hip-hop music has attracted a loyal and obsessive tribe of followers known as the Juggalos.

I am attending a protest against white supremacy with Struggalo Circus, a group that seeks to bring Juggalos and radical activists together to provide help and medical care in the streets. We look a bit out of place among the activists and black-clad anarchists. But everyone smiles when they see us, welcoming us with a “whoop whoop,” the internationally recognized call of the Juggalo community.

I have volunteered as a medic at protests for over 10 years now. Sometimes, I mask my face, but not this time—instead, I’m wearing face paint. However, with bandanas considered intimidating for some and often banned from protests, many activists are looking at alternatives ways to make themselves anonymous to confuse ever expanding facial recognition systems. 

Their tactics can be quite low tech, including pulling their hair over their face, using certain makeup techniques, or pointing lasers at cameras to avoid photos being taken.