THIS is the horrifying moment a “Killdozer” rampage destroyed a small American town and caused more than $5 million in damages to residents’ homes and businesses.
Marvin Heemeyer became an “unstoppable” force as he tore through the streets of Granby, Colorado, in his armoured, 85-ton destructive machine 20 years ago today.
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Kitted out in makeshift armour plating covering the cabin, engine, and parts of the tracks, the ‘Killdozer’ knocked down 13 buildings and destroyed people’s livelihoods on that frightful day on June 4, 2004.
Shocking footage captured the horrors unfold as the modified bulldozer left a path of destruction in its wake.
Desperate police forces did their best to stop it in its tracks, but three external explosions and more than 200 rounds of ammunition ultimately had no effect on the bombarding machine.
Sat inside it was Heemeyer himself – a reasonably ordinary man who lived an ordinary life as an automobile muffler repair shop owner.
But disputes with town officials, local press, various citizens and even neighbours eventually led him to commit the heinous crime.
He had been driven to such rage, in fact, that he even fitted his bulldozer with three gun-ports for a .50 caliber rifle, a .308 caliber semi-automatic rifle, and a .22 caliber rifle.
All three weapons were even fitted with half an inch of steel plating.
There was also craft to his game, with Heemeyer installing several video cameras for visibility, linked to two monitors mounted on the vehicle’s dashboard.
They were also protected on the outside by 3-inch shields of clear bulletproof lexan glass, meaning officers failed to break through and damage any vision.
Compressed-air nozzles were also included to blow dust away from the video cameras, ensuring nothing could block Heemeyer’s vision at any time.
As video shows the Killdozer going full throttle through homes, buildings and businesses, a plume of smoke soon begins to emanate from the futuristic looking vehicle.
The Killdozer’s radiator had begun to burn out – and there was nothing Heemeyer could do about it.
To make matters worse, and all but bring an end to his masterplan, one of the treds became stuck as he ploughed through the latest building – bringing the machine to a standstill.
With nowhere to go, police managed to surround the vehicle – only for Heemeyer to shoot himself dead before they could get inside.
In fact, it took twelve hours of cutting with an oxyacetylene torch and a tug from a crane to crack the armoured hatch open.
The entire town had turned into a crime scene but, amongst all the rubble, one thing remained.
Inside the shed where the Killdozer was built, Heemeyer’s final words were written down on a crumpled note.
“I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable,” it read. “Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.”
The town of Granby in Colorado has never forgotten that frightful day on June 4, 2004, as they were cast into national spotlight following the crazed actions of one man.
Having already held grudges against Granby town officials, the local press, and various other citizens of Granby, his boiling point had been building for several years.
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From losing property disputes with neighbours to being fined for not having a septic tank, Heemeyer constantly felt the town was against him.
Patrick Brower, the newspaper publisher in Granby back in June of 2004, said Heemeyer “vowed to get back at the people he felt somehow had wronged him”.
He told Denver7 that this made the crazed repair shop owner “basically unstoppable”.
Heemeyer’s story was made into a full-length documentary called “Tread.”
The film’s writer and director Paul Solet said in a 2020 interview that Heemeyer was an “implicit character”, with several interviews shot over a number of years included in the project.
Many slammed the documentary for glorifying Heemeyer’s crimes, including former SWAT commander Grant Whitus, who led the SWAT team that responded to Granby that day.
“To glamorise what he did and the way he did it for the reason he did it, I think is horrible,” he said in a phone interview, Denver7 report.
Solet, however, also said the film was for those “who loved Heemeyer the most and continue to support him.”
In the following years and up until the present day, many groups have sympathised with Heemeyer, while others have branded him a “hero”.
Brower, who also wrote a book about the rampage titled “Killdozer”, said: “They think of Mark as the itty bitty guy who fought back at the government that got in their way.”
How Heemeyer inspired American ‘preppers’
By Tom Malley
Marvin Heemeyer’s 2004 destruction of a small town in Colorado has helped to inspire some of America’s most right-wing doomsday ‘preppers’.
Using his makeshift armour plating to protect the tank and stockpiling resources to last him more than a week, he influenced the way in which preppers build their bunkers today.
Installing cameras on the outside of his ‘Killdozer’ was also a smart move, while creating gaps big enough to point a gun out of ensured his chances of survival remained high.
Heemeyer even surrounded himself with weapons and enough supplies to last him a week, creating the ideal doomsday setup.
Welding himself in, he clearly never intended to exit his own bunker – nor to have anyone enter, either.
That was only reinforced by the fact he covered the top of the vehicle in oil, making it impossible for anyone to climb up.
As he sat inside, the grey haired repair shop owner was determined to destroy the lives of those who he believed had destroyed his.
In the aftermath, a note was found in the shed where the Killdozer was built, which read: “I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable.
“Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.”
A prepper pushed over the brink, Heemeyer clearly felt he had nothing to lose.
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