Fact Check: Were Bulldozers Deployed to Counter Jakarta Protesters?
Fact Check: Were Bulldozers Deployed to Counter Jakarta Protesters?
Reporter
August 29, 2026 | 08:30 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A 24-second video has circulated on Facebook [archive], TikTok, and YouTube since August 27, 2026. The video shows four heavy vehicles traveling along a road and claims that they were deployed to the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) building, where a protest was held demanding the passage of the Asset Forfeiture Bill.
Text overlaid on the video includes the statement, “Four bulldozers are ready to head to the DPR building. We will leave after the Asset Forfeiture Bill is passed.”
Is it true that the four heavy vehicles were deployed to the DPR RI building during the August 27, 2026, protest?
FACT CHECK
Tempo verified the video using reverse image searches, geolocation, and confirmation from credible sources. The results show that the footage does not depict heavy equipment being deployed to the protest site. Instead, it was recorded in Jambi in 2025.
Visual Verification
The vehicles shown in the video are not bulldozers but trucks transporting heavy equipment, such as excavators. The TikTok account Cctv Simpang Jambi Muara Bungo uploaded footage of the convoy of four heavy equipment transport trucks earlier, on October 29, 2025.
Tempo compared the location shown in the video with Google Street View. The location is on Jalan Lintas Sumatera, Simpang Muara, Bungo Regency, Jambi Province. The positions of the billboards, shop houses, and a white barrier at the corner of the road appear identical.
Situation During the August 27, 2026, Protest
The protest in front of the DPR RI building on August 27, 2026, from morning until afternoon was organized by the Pati United Community Alliance (Aliansi Masyarakat Pati Bersatu). The protesters began their action at 10 a.m. local time and dispersed at around 12:30 p.m.
Other protesters outside the alliance remained at the site until around 7 p.m. Police officers moved out from the area inside the building complex and operated three armored vehicles equipped with water cannons, along with tactical vehicles. Officers fired water cannons from inside the Senayan complex and deployed tear gas to disperse the crowd.
CONCLUSION
Based on Tempo’s fact-checking, the claim that bulldozers were sent to the DPR RI building to counter the August 27, 2026, protest is false. The video shows a convoy of heavy equipment transport trucks in Simpang Muara, Bungo Regency, Jambi, on October 29, 2025.
**Do you have information or claims that you want to have fact-checked? Contact our ChatBot. You can also send criticism, objections, or feedback for this Fact-Checking article via email to [email protected].