Incredibly, no one else was injured in the rampage. [5], Later, Heemeyer fired on two state patrol officers before they had fired at him. Another item that stood out to me in Heemeyers taped manifesto was dozens of references to his money. [14], As late as 2011, Governor Owens's staff still vehemently denied considering such a course of action. The negotiations hadnt been easy, and hed been having trouble agreeing with the company on a suitable price. Its unclear whether this complaint was true or not. Then he tried to get an easement for a sewer line. Also on his hit-list was a Catholic church as well as several named individuals. Heemeyer also fired 15 bullets from his .50-BMG rifle at power transformers and propane tanks. "It's really a mix between that and just a service town," with a couple of banks, a concrete plant, an electrical co-op and many businesses that cater to the tourism industry. Marvin Heemeyer established a prime example of not to mess with a commoner. lift fully exposed". *Side note: he annoyingly says the word anyways quite frequently. Ingold, John; Brittany Anas; Howard Pankratz (June 6, 2004). He endangered the lives of the police officers, destroyed several emergency vehicles, and could have killed several innocent civilians if it wasn't for the actions of law enforcement who managed to evacuate buildings before they were destroyed. Born: 1952Birthplace: Castlewood, SDDied: 4-Jun-2004Location of death: Granby, COCause of death: Suicide, Gender: MaleRace or Ethnicity: WhiteSexual orientation: StraightOccupation: Criminal, Nationality: United StatesExecutive summary: Killdozer pilot. In notes found by investigators after the incident, Heemeyer wrote: "It's interesting how I never got caught. Marvin Heemeyer did use a "killdozer" to exact revenge on the city of Granby, Colorado, after a concrete factory was allowed to be built across the street from his muffler shop: However, this text omits a few key details in order to paint Heemeyer as the "last great American folk hero.". And on June 4, 2004, he sealed himself inside his cockpit and set out for Granby. ", "Granby: 2004 bulldozer rampage subject of History Channel program", "Grudge spawns trail of destruction: Granby man kills himself after rampage in armor-plated bulldozer", "Armored dozer was bad to go: Reporters get peek inside Heemeyer's destructive machine", "Officials: Man who drove bulldozer is dead: Colorado rampage leaves man dead of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound", "Dozer digs its own grave: Used by angry resident to attack Granby, machine to be dismantled as scrap", "Newly released audiotapes detail reasons for Granby bulldozer rampage", "Man Who Bulldozed Granby Says He Got Idea From God", "7NEWS Looks Inside Granby Work Shed Where 'Dozer Was Outfitted", , ?, Discovery Channel Destroyed in Seconds video, "Site detailing Marvin Heemeyer's dispute with City Hall", Granby Damage, includes several pictures of the incident, Audio: Hear from Marvin Heemeyer himself in recorded 'manifesto', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marvin_Heemeyer&oldid=1147271808, Wikipedia pages semi-protected from banned users, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 March 2023, at 21:34. Thank you for a complete nonbias Marvin Heemeyer was a resident of Granby, Colorado, where he owned a muffler repair shop. It is my duty. The indisputable truth is that Heemeyer destroyed a lot of public and private property that day he caused a reported $7 million in damage and could have killed several people, whether he intended to or not. He mailed these to his brother in South Dakota shortly before stepping into his bulldozer. Ultimately Im just grateful youre here reading my content, but if youd like to say thanks back, you can buy me a coffee . When Marvin Heemeyer made the decision June 4, 2004 to plow through Granby, toppling buildings, destroying vehicles then killing himself, he did so with much devastation for the town of Granby and the region. Heemeyer unsuccessfully appealed the decision, claiming the construction blocked access to his shop. About this time, Heemeyer began having religious delusions that God was preparing him for a mission. Heemeyer also speaks frequently about God that God prepared him for this task; that perhaps even God planned it before he was born. On the afternoon of 4 June 2004, Heemeyer decided to put his plan into action, and took the finished killdozer on a long, lumbering joyride, knocking holes in the concrete plant, the town hall, and several businesses and homes before extricating itself in the rubble of a collapsed warehouse. Heemeyer, behind the controls of his steel-and-concrete reinforced killdozer, began his attack on the town and his enemies at about 3 p.m., bursting through a wall of the secret shop where he constructed his monstrosity. 24 October 2004. Heemeyer wasn't willing to pay a good deal of money to tie into the existing sewer line, and the problems that caused with the town government bloomed into a multiyear disagreement. Using a remote controlled crane to lift the final piece of armor on, he sealed himself inside for the rest of his life. Great. One could argue that Marvin Heemeyer was treated unfairly by the government, that he was run out of business by a larger company, and that what he did on "Killdozer Day" was simply what every other "little guy" dreamedof doing aftergetting pushed down by "the man". John Donovan "The Wrath of the Killdozer." [13] Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer was killed. [1], According to Grand County commissioner James Newberry, Grand County emergency dispatchers used the reverse 911 emergency system to notify many residents and property owners of the rampage going on in the town. Im going to get ahead. And as the saying goes the love of money is the root of all evil.3. It's not really like that at all," Brower says. The sheriff's department argued the fact that no one was injured was not due to good intent as much as to good luck. Some time after military service, he returned to Colorado where he ran a chain of successful muffler shops in the Denver area. Granby, elevation somewhere around 8,000 feet (2,438 meters), is small. He built a tank, leveled a good portion of a previously quiet small town in the Rocky Mountains with it, then immediately gained a measure of fame because of it, and almost as immediately met an inglorious end. Everybody, all the time. By the time he was finished, he had demolished 13 buildings, including the town hall and the library within it, the police station, the home of the ex-mayor, a bank, numerous vehicles, the newspaper where Brower worked and the local hardware store. Gambles had been a hardware store with five employees. Christie Baker said that Heemeyer threatened her husband after he refused to pay for a faulty muffler repair. Really money was the most frequent topic of his ramblings. [citation needed], Two problems arose as Heemeyer destroyed the Gambles hardware store. Poppen, Julie. Volume 90%. [16], On April 19, 2005, the town announced plans to scrap Heemeyer's bulldozer. It is my duty. It was equipped with three semi-automatic rifles, and Heemeyer carried two sidearms, including a .357 Magnum that he used to commit suicide. The bulldozer became stuck. As the armor covered much of the cabin, a video camera was mounted on the exterior for visibility, covered by three-inch bulletproof plastic. [8] It was planned that individual pieces would be dispersed to many separate scrap yards to prevent admirers of Heemeyer from taking souvenirs. Heemeyers side of the story seemed to be predominantly a creation of his own mind. Due to the steep price-hike, Mountain Park Concrete back out of the deal. He says that he was never caught was a sign that God wanted him to go through with his plan. Heemeyer bought his two acres from the Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency set up to handle the assets of failed savings and loan institutions. It is my duty. 315K views 1 year ago Marvin Heeymeyer would, in his eyes, be forced to take unreasonable measures against those who he believed had slighted him. Heemeyer was surprised that several men who had visited the shed late the previous year did not discover the modified bulldozer, "especially with the 2,000 lb. Heemeyer bought his two acres from the Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency set up to handle the assets of failed savings and loan institutions. [12], Defenders of Heemeyer contended that he made a point of not hurting anybody during his bulldozer rampage. Granby also is like a lot of small towns in America in that it's a place where it's relatively easy to get to know people and for people to know you. ", Investigators later found Heemeyer's handwritten list of targets. And conspiracy theories abound, including that he didnt commit suicide but was executed inside his MK Tank. In these circles, Heemeyer is a martyr to their anti-government cause and a victim of petty government interference and oppression. Lets examine the two sides. The attacks were in place and, had Heemeyer not wedged himself in the basement of a store, they would have been carried out. This sparked terror among the communitys 1500 residents. Police, concerned for the safety of innocent folks, considered extreme military weapons to stop him. First, he flattened a couple buildings at a close-by concrete batch plant that he had complained about to the town council. [1] The coroner stated that Heemeyer used his .357-caliber handgun in the suicide. It all boiled down to whether you agreed with him or not. A destroyed truck was stuck inside the Mountain Parks Electric building after Marvin Heemeyers rampage. Hi there! This meant that once he was in the Killdozer, there was no getting out, but more importantly, it meant there was no hatch that could be breached by law enforcement. Heemeyer was 52 years old. The spree lasted over two hours before finally coming to a deadly standstill. Notes found by investigators after the rampage indicate that the primary motivation for Heemeyer's bulldozer rampage was his fight to stop a concrete plant from being built near his shop. Heemeyer's story, at least the interesting part, begins in Granby, a town in a high basin of the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. Local and state patrol, including a SWAT team, walked behind and beside the bulldozer, occasionally firing, but the armored bulldozer was impervious to their shots. The government should fear their people, the people should not fear their government. Brian Brainerd/The Denver Post/Getty Images. Which, for more than one witness to this bizarre chapter in modern American history, is simply wrong. Its difficult to find educated people about this topic, but you seem like you know what youre talking about! This made the machine impervious to small arms fire and resistant to explosives; three external explosions and over 200 rounds of firearm ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it. For the next eighteen months, he retrofitted the bulldozer with steel plates as well as homemade armor consisting of both concrete and steel sheets to make what he called his MK Tank though it is remembered today as Killdozer.. He joined the Air Force in 1971, during which time he had his first introduction to the state of Colorado while stationed there. On June 4, 2004, Heemeyer drove his armored bulldozer through the wall of his former business, the concrete plant, the town hall, the office of the local newspaper that editorialized against him, the home of a former mayor (in which the mayor's widow then resided), and a hardware store owned by another man Heemeyer named in a lawsuit, as well as a few others. 16 September 2021. Then there was all the God stuff. For anyone who has read much of my blog, you can perhaps guess where I fall decidedly in the second camp of Heemeyer being a deranged, vengeful terrorist. [5] The sheriff's department also noted that eleven of the thirteen buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction. To these gun ports, he mounted a .50 caliber and two 5.56mm rifles. Governor Bill Owens allegedly considered authorizing the National Guard to use either an Apache attack helicopter equipped with a Hellfire missile or a two-man fire team equipped with a Javelin anti-tank missile to destroy the bulldozer. Photos and Memories(2) [5] Heemeyer fired many bullets from his semi-automatic rifle at Cody Docheff when Docheff tried to stop the assault on his concrete plant by using a scraper, which was pushed aside by Heemeyer's bulldozer. Nobody was killed during the rampage. While many people described Heemeyer as a likable person, others told a different story. He also fired upon power transformers and propane tanks trying to cause explosions. "Granby Bulldozer Rampage Revisited, Ten Years Later." Though not his original plan, he eventually built another muffler shop on his new property. Much of Heemeyers rampage was televised nationally (LINK), and he was almost immediately hailed as patriot and hero by far-right anti-government groups. God has asked me to do this. Everything about Marvin John Heemeyers first forty years of life was what youd call ordinary. The Durango Telegraph "Dozer Rampage Roots Run Deep." Certain facts remain indisputable: No weapons or guns have been produced, least of all any kind of a .50 caliber weapon, and no one was hurt or injured during the 2 to 3 hour melee, save for Marvin Heemeyer, who was found dead inside of the cab of the vehicle at 20 AM Saturday morning, after SWAT and sheriff's deputies spent an hour using a cutting torch and 3 separate blasts with military . Marvin Heemeyer is a hero. A tank, complete with thick steel-plated walls to ward off attackers and a couple of guns to inflict some harm. [2], At this point, local authorities and the Colorado State Patrol feared they were running out of options in terms of firepower, and that Heemeyer would soon turn against civilians in Granby. His Killdozer, that had once been 49 tons, now weighed 61.5 tons and would no longer fit through the bay door so he drove it through the side of the garage. Such a panic ensued that the governor considered authorizing the National Guard to attack with Apache helicopters and an anti-tank missile. This man killed no one but himself , However those that stood against him to steal his job and lively hood ,PAID . As I said in the opening line, depending on who you ask, Marvin Heemeyer is either a folk hero and patriot or hes a deranged lunatic and domestic terrorist. The attack lasted for two hours and seven minutes, damaging 13 buildings, knocking out natural gas service to city hall and the concrete plant, damaging a truck, and destroying part of a utility service center. [citation needed], On April 19, 2005, it was announced that Heemeyer's bulldozer was being taken apart for scrap metal. The bulldozer's engine failed, and Heemeyer dropped a tread into the store's basement and could not get out. He could not function without the sewer line and the cooperation of the town.[6]. A viral Facebook post explainswhy some people feel that Heemeyer was a folk hero: The story as related above is largely accurate. "God built me for this job", Heemeyer said in the first recording. But here's where the story gets weird (as if it isn't weird already). said Susie Docheff in an interview with the Sky-Hi News. It's up to you, however, to decide if he should be hailed as hero. The last recording was made 13 days before the rampage. 27 June 2014. In early 2003, Heemeyer sold his property for $400,000 to a trash company, and put everything up for auction. Webamp. "I think God will bless me to get the machine done, to drive it, to do the stuff that I have to do", he said. When Marvin John Heemeyer was born on 28 October 1951, in Castlewood, Hamlin, South Dakota, United States, his father, John Harm Heemeyer, was 27 and his mother, Augusta Mulder, was 30. 5 June 2004. The Gambles store has been rebuilt, but it took seven years for Casey Farrell, the owner, to do so. "It's going to come back to haunt you And it can come back to haunt you in spades. And it's true that a few names on this list were obvious adversaries, such as the town hall, which was responsible for rezoning the land surrounding his property. "He probably set you up to say no' just so he could get mad at you.". He spoke of himself as worthless and unwanted. 6 6 tape 3 side b 06:41. "Ten Years After Heemeyers Day of Terror, Wounds Remain in Granby." He feels that the entire community is against him that they had a resentment towards outsiders. He purchased the land for his shop in 1992 from the Resolution Trust Corporation and later decided to sell it to a man who wanted to build a concrete plant. "The idea somehow that Marv didn't want to hurt anybody is absolutely absurd," Brower says. In addition to the properties, Heemeyer also listed several names, including the mayor and several local business owners. Somehow during the past 17 years since, Heemeyer has become a legend of sorts. He paid the fine, writing the word cowards on the memo line of his check. [5] The sheriff's department also notes that 11 of the 13 buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction. He fired dozens of rifle rounds, some aimed at law enforcement, others attempting to ignite large explosions. The Denver Post. June 5, 2004. "God blessed me in advance for the task that I am about to undertake. The plan involved dispersing individual pieces to many separate scrap yards to prevent souvenir-taking.[17]. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Heemeyer has been called a petulant 5 year old throwing a tantrum and a maniac carrying out an act of terrorism. At 6 feet tall and about 230 pounds, Marvin Heemeyer was, in many ways, ill-suited for the role of David. His final step was to mail his tape recordings to his brother and climb inside his tank.
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