PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN 6) — Fourteen businesses in north Portland received targeted, threatening messages last Thursday from a group calling for them to leave the neighborhood.

“You have been targeted by the juggalo family to get … out,” the notice reads. “Vacate or … our …”

Business owners, including Hopworks Urban Brewery manager Spencer Kollman, said they are scared, after the notices were plastered on front doors and store fronts along N Williams St. and N. Shaver St.

Kollman said he came into work Thursday to find dozens of the same flyer, which has been edited for graphic language, in the storefront.

“So I don’t know what we did to make them angry or anybody else to make them angry,” he said. “This is straight up vulgar.”

In addition to the flyers, Kollman said he has noticed an increase in car break-ins.

“There’s broken glass everyday,” he said.

It remains unclear who made or distributed the flyers. Police could not confirm whether the fliers were in any way connected to the increase in car prowls.

The issue of gentrification

In recent years, north Portland’s Williams St. area has seen a sharp increase in property values, construction, and new businesses — including upscale boutiques and restaurants — moving to the area.

Tracy Sullivan, who lives near the intersection of N Williams St. and N Shaver St., said she understands the opposition to gentrification.

“I think it’s hard, I feel bad,” she said. “At the same time, people have been living here for a long time [and] it’s harder to afford it.”

What’s a Juggalo?

The name “Juggalo” is associated with fans of the hardcore hip hop group Insane Clown Posse, and their label Psychopathic Records. The name itself arose during a 1994 live performance.

People who subscribe to the Juggalo subculture are known for wearing clown makeup, drinking the soft drink Faygo, listening to hardcore or “horrorcore” hip hop, and have been referred to as a “family” in popular media.