FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Amish Buggies On Their Way To Join The Canadian Trucker Convoy?

An image shared on Facebook claims to show a group of Amish horse-drawn buggies in Canada “on their way to join the trucker convoy.”

Verdict: False

The photographer who took the picture featured in the post explained it shows Mennonites on their way to church. There is no evidence it has anything to do with the Canadian trucker convoy.

Fact Check:

A large group of Canadian truckers, dubbed the “Freedom Convoy,” has driven to Ottawa to protest a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate aimed at truckers, according to BBC News. The mandate in question requires truckers to quarantine after crossing the U.S.-Canada border if they are not vaccinated.

An image shared on Twitter claims the Amish are now joining the protest. It shows dozens of horse-drawn buggies making their way down a road surrounded by snow. “Amish in Canada,” reads the post’s caption. “On their way to join the trucker convoy.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show People In Berlin Protesting Against Coronavirus Restrictions?)

The photo is unrelated to the current protests in Ottawa, however. A reverse image search reveals the photo was originally shared in a Jan, 17 Instagram post from sports photographer Michelle Graham. The “Freedom Convoy” protest did not begin until days later, according to The Interior News and the Toronto Star.

Graham told Check Your Fact in a phone call that the image shows Mennonites, an Anabaptist sect different from the Amish, on their way to church on a Sunday morning in Ontario, Canada. “I thought I was just sharing an artful picture of what I thought was beautiful versus turning it into something political, which is something they’d never do,” Graham said, adding that the image “was taken on the 16th and I posted it on the 17th.”

The image shared on Facebook, as well as other similar photos of the Mennonites, can also be found on Graham’s website.