I found about him on the Something Awful forums, where they presented him as some kind of folk hero who was fighting against the man and AFAIK they still have Killdozer emoji.
He was actually a libertarian asshole who thought it was government tyranny that he couldn't keep emptying human waste into an old concrete truck barrel. He would've gotten a ton of money for his property that was going to have a concrete plant built on it, but he refused.
It was really just luck that he didn't kill anyone, he ran his dozer into a library where a bunch of children had gathered, but they were evacuated just in time.
I dunno why I'm talking about this now fairly obscure piece of Internet lore except I randomly thought of him a few days ago and realized it was almost exactly 20 years ago (
). I guess it's also a good example of how telling a story selectively can change its perception, which is relevant with Tiny Man Square having its anniversary too.
I think 99% of the appeal of the kill dozer guy is that it reminds some of us of the montage scene of every third act in an A-Team episode where the good guys start welding and sawing and custom rigging civilian vehicles and construction equipment into improvised tools for fighting this week's antagonistic bullies, usually some corrupt institution or rich assbag.
there's a park in downtown Havana where vehicles of the revolution are displayed. a delivery truck, the Granma, etc. and there's this little tiny box trailer thing with plate steel armor and slits for shooting out of.
there's something broadly insurrectionary about work vehicles being repurposed to fight and I think that is the origin of the appeal. we can loathe the man, but still appreciate the technical capacity of the killdozer.
now you have me imagining a different reality where that guy is tirelessly building and overseeing bulldozer tank conversions for the Workers Revolution
There's an indie top down tank shooter called Brigador you should check out. One faction, the Corvid Rebels, all their vehicles are repurposed industrial vehicles, in fact they have a literal Killdozer.
I love it when a plan comes together.