“Got the old killdozer loaded up heading for Ottawa.”

A viral meme about current Canadian protests references a 2004 Colorado rampage that became a rallying point for anti-government extremists.

The Feb. 6 post on Facebook is a screenshot of a meme that says, “Got the old killdozer loaded up heading for Ottawa. Time to turn this peaceful protest a little more interesting hahahahah see ya in 2 weeks in Ottawa.” The meme includes a photo of an armored bulldozer that was known as the “Killdozer.”

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The meme references the “Freedom Convoy” protest against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions that began in Ottawa, Canada, and has spread to other Canadian cities. It also references a 2004 attack in Granby, Colorado, by Marvin Heemeyer, who modified a bulldozer by covering it with layers of steel and cement, adding multiple guns and mounting cameras so he could see outside.

Heemeyer had been in a property dispute with neighbors and city officials and lost a related lawsuit. Using the so-called Killdozer, he “destroyed 13 buildings, methodically crawling through the town in his homemade tank and striking down structures owned by those he thought were out to get him,” Colorado Public Radio reported. Heemeyer fired shots at law enforcement, but no one except him died in the attack. He died by suicide.

It’s estimated that Heemeyer caused $7 million worth of damage.

Granby town leaders voted unanimously in 2005 to have the Killdozer cut apart and sold as scrap metal, “so no one will ever be able to harvest souvenirs from its rampage through the town,” the Rocky Mountain News reported that year.

In the years since the attack, Heemeyer has become “revered” by extremist groups, Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who tracks online extremism, told NBC News in 2020.

“Killdozer represents the intersection between the libertarian ideal of small government and the militant fantasy of the Boogaloo,” a far-right anti-government movement, Squire said. “Heemeyer, as Killdozer, meticulously planned a revenge fantasy on some local government entities that he blamed for excessive regulation of his business.”

Our ruling

A Facebook post says, “Got the old killdozer loaded up heading for Ottawa.”

The armored bulldozer known as “Killdozer” was dismantled in 2005, cut apart and sold as scrap metal.

We rate this claim False.