Marvin Heemeyer is America's last hero. Municipal building that served as a hall and library

In the absence of worthy heroes of our time, The Kaliningrad Room continues to turn to the past in search of inspiration, and today we have an idol in line office workers, unbalanced schoolchildren and sociopaths of all stripes - a skilled welder, a failed tanker and a tornado man, Marvin John Heemeyer.

This story, which the American media would later dub "Marvin Heemeyer's War", began back in 1992 in a small town called Granby (only about 2200 inhabitants at that time), which is located in the state of Colorado. The hero of our story, old Marvin, an experienced engineer and former US Air Force airfield technician, then acquired about eight thousand square meters of land in the city in order to open his car repair shop here, work honestly on it and thereby benefit capitalist society. But, like any other decent tragedy, this one must have its own villain, who unobtrusively appears at the very beginning, and then plays a fatal role in it: in the case of Marvin Heemeyer, such a villain turned out to be the Granby city-forming enterprise, local cement factory, which was, among other things, owned by quite specific individuals, namely the Docheff family.

Throughout the nineties, Heemeyer's car service successfully, but without any special pretensions, conducted his business, for the time being without coming into conflict with the administration of the plant, with the territory of which he bordered on one side. However, everything changed when, closer to the millennium, the Docheff family decided to increase the production capacity of the enterprise by building another production line, which, of course, required land. Quite quickly, all the plots adjacent to the plant were bought up, and the only one who suddenly refused to sell the coveted acres, to the misfortune of the plant administration, was none other than old Marvin, who categorically did not want to part with his workshop and move anywhere.

According to Susan Docheff, the hard-nosed locksmith was initially offered $250,000, when the land cost him only $42,000 in 1992. But by the time an understanding seemed to have been practically reached, Heemeyer decided to go on principle and raised the price first to 375 thousand, and then to a million dollars, which made the deal simply impossible.

Actually, when it is impossible to agree with a person, they begin to poison him. Perhaps if this story had happened not in the law-abiding States, but somewhere in the outback of Russia, the body of an intractable businessman would have been found in the nearest river and things would not have gone so far, but American villains, unlike ours, play fair. That is why it was decided for the man to survive from the light by cutting off his oxygen: since all the land in the district already belonged to the plant, the site that Heemeyer had previously used to drive to his car service was now closed to him. The local administration, in turn, turned out to be on the side of large entrepreneurs and even issued a $ 2,500 fine to Marvin's workshop for not being connected to the city sewer system. Our hero also could not fix this, because the territory along which the pipes should have been laid, again belonged to the cement plant, and he, of course, was not interested in such a simple solution to the problem. Therefore, the fine had to be paid, but according to rumors, Marvin Heemeyer attached a note to the money with just one word: "Underpants".

Despite the fact that many rated Heemeyer as a nice guy, others noted that this is not the kind of person who should cross the road.

From this moment on, the most important and most formidable participant in history enters the development of events: bulldozer Komatsu D355A. Marvin bought it in 2002 in order to independently pave a new road to the auto repair shop, because the client had to be able to somehow get into it, so that the business would not die completely. The only strange thing about all this is that Marvin, who by that time had already eaten a dog in the fight against the authorities, did not assume that these same authorities would simply not allow him to build any roads. Although… maybe he didn’t really count on it, and when buying a decommissioned bulldozer, he knew in advance what destruction and chaos he would have to sow in the near future. It took Marvin Heemeyer almost a year and a half to make a makeshift upgrade of his Komatsu, but as you know, revenge is a dish best served cold. Xzibit, with his polished customization, nervously smokes on the sidelines, looking at what improvements the old bulldozer has undergone:

First of all, improvised anti-cumulative, that is, combined armor, in theory capable of protecting against a direct hit by an anti-tank projectile. An inch of steel (about 1.3 cm), then almost 8 inches of concrete and another inch of steel. In some places, the total thickness of the armor reached 30 cm!
External video cameras with a monitor in the cab, providing the driver with a wide view. Camera lenses were prudently protected by three inches of bulletproof glass, and equipped with a system for cleaning dirt and dust, for which compressed air was used.
Loopholes for weapons and, in fact, the arsenal itself in the form of a Kel-Tec P11 pistol, a Ruger AC556 automatic carbine, a Magnum revolver and a Barret M82 large-caliber sniper rifle, from which, if desired, you can shoot down a combat helicopter.
Fans, air conditioning, gas mask, as well as supplies of food and water for comfortable stay in an almost sealed cabin.

As the creator of Killdozer himself wrote in one of his notes, "Sometimes reasonable men have to be able to act unreasonably."

On June 4, 2004, Marvin John Heemeyer got into the cockpit of a caterpillar monster and, using a makeshift remote-controlled crane, lowered the last armored box onto the chassis, immuring him inside. It was already impossible to get out on his own, and Marvin was not going to. After consulting a pre-compiled list of targets, which included all the people who somehow had a hand in his eviction, at 14:30 he left the garage right through the wall, without even using its gate. There was no need to worry about this, because in line for lynching Heemeyer was expected: the entire cement plant, including the plant management building and production workshops, the office of the gas company, the buildings of the bank, the city administration, fire brigade and a warehouse, the editorial office of the local newspaper, which poured mud on Marvin in their articles, as well as several residential buildings owned by the mayor and members of the city council, in total - 13 objects. It is noteworthy that the businessman who went on the warpath did not fall into a fighting rage, as might be expected, but carefully controlled the destruction, firstly, destroying only the property of those who, in his opinion, deserved it, and secondly, without demolishing the load-bearing walls that could cause buildings to collapse and bury a bulldozer under their rubble.

Of course, the police immediately raised the alarm: all roads were immediately blocked and one and a half thousand residents were evacuated, and local rangers and a SWAT detachment came out to confront Himeyer. True, there was nowhere to take any serious anti-tank weapons from anywhere in such a small city as Granby, so all the lawyers could do was shoot at a fifty-ton armored bulldozer from service pistols and rifles, periodically throwing stun grenades under its tracks, the sense of which was slightly more than zero. There was even one brave sergeant who decided to play rambo - he managed to climb onto a bulldozer on the move and throw a gas grenade into the exhaust pipe, but in this case, the prudent Marvin equipped it with a grate, so that the pipe, although it was torn, was the only damage caused bulldozer until a stray bullet damaged its radiator (and even this did not affect the performance of the machine in any way). But Marvin Heemeyer used his weapon only for defensive purposes, moreover, shooting obviously above the policemen in order to keep them at a distance. Despite the terrible appearance and the arsenal of the bulldozer, he was not injured by the hands of his driver no one man in the city.

And yet, the end was inevitable. No matter how Marvin tried to be as accurate as possible in the demolition of buildings, a few hours after the start of revenge, another small wholesale store collapsed, the bulldozer got stuck and stalled. For two hours the police were afraid to approach him, and then all night long they tried without much success to open the cab with a plastid and an autogen, so that when they did manage to get inside, they found Marvin Heemeyer already half a day as having shot himself.

The Governor of Colorado estimated damage to the city at $5 million and the plant at $2 million, noting that "Granby looks like a tornado has swept through it."

The American media, although they talked about what happened, still did not pay due attention to the story of the hunted businessman, describing the events in Granby rather restrainedly and sparingly. On the whole, it is understandable: it would be completely unprofitable for the state to praise such protests. Although if you think about it, analyze the situation and assess the consequences, it turns out that Heemeyer did nothing outstanding: thanks to the property insurance system, the plant compensated for its losses and resumed work in just ten days, the rest also received appropriate material compensation. The fact that no one was hurt during his lynching may turn out to be a happy accident, because in 11 of the 13 buildings he demolished until the last moment there were people, and if Marvin did not hit anyone during defensive shooting, this does not mean that he didn't aim.

Ultimately, the city survived this "tornado", recovered from the destruction and continued its quiet existence, and those who from the very beginning were the source of Heemeyer's headache are either alive to this day or died later, a natural death. To make a cornered entrepreneur a hero of his time, who found the only way to assert his rights in such a radical form, or to consider him an irresponsible unbalanced psycho who put the lives of hundreds of people at risk is the personal choice of everyone, and The Kaliningrad Room hope you make it yourself.

This story took place in 2004 in a small town in the state of Colorado and at one time shocked America and became known far beyond the borders of the United States.

So, in the town of Granby, whose population is only about 2 thousand people, lived and worked for the time being, an unremarkable person - his name was Marvin John Heemeyer. He worked as a welder, had his own workshop and was engaged in the repair and sale of automobile mufflers. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War, during which he served as a military technician at the airfield. Marvin was not married, and it is not known if he ever had a family at all. He also had no relatives in the town and its environs. He lived quietly and imperceptibly, he was quite a law-abiding and modest uncle. There is no consensus about his personal spiritual qualities. His neighbors and acquaintances call Heemeyer a "nice person", but at the same time, it is known that in a fit of anger he once threatened to kill the husband of a client who refused to pay him for his work. One of his closest comrades says of him:

“If Marv was your friend, he was your best friend. But if he decided that he was your enemy, then he was your worst and most dangerous enemy.

One way or another, for the time being, no one noticed anything out of the ordinary in the behavior of John Heemeyer. So far, Mountain Park has decided to expand its cement plant. To do this, she began to buy up plots located near the enterprise, while offering decent compensation for them. The owners of the plant also wanted to buy Marvin's land. It was a fairly large piece of land - at one time John bought it for several tens of thousands of dollars. Although the company offered quite a decent price, Heemeyer did not agree and asked for 250 thousand dollars, but soon changed his mind and raised the price to 375 thousand, and then demanded $ 1 million altogether. Needless to say, there is evidence that big money initially he was not offered, but still it was a very good compensation.

Negotiations dragged on until 2001, when the zoning commission and the city authorities approved a plan to expand the plant. However, the stubborn welder did not calm down and tried to appeal the decision in court, though without success. Marvin began to slowly push out of his site. The expansion of the factory blocked his entrance to the workshop. City authorities fined him $2,500 for various violations. The sewerage was first turned off for the owner of the auto repair shop, and when he left for his father's funeral, water and electricity were also cut off, and the workshop itself was sealed. Then Marvin moved to decisive action.

I must say that when the road was blocked for him, he acquired a decommissioned mining bulldozer " Komatsu D355A-3". This is a huge machine, such equipment is used, for example, by the Gazprom company in polar developments. With the help of a bulldozer, he wanted to pave his own road to the workshop, but he was not allowed to do this. And then Heemeyer decided to make an infernal revenge machine out of this tractor. He worked on it for almost a year and a half in his workshop. He scalded it with 12-mm steel sheets, moreover, he made spaced double armor: a layer of concrete was laid between the metal layers. This made the homemade armored car virtually invulnerable. Later, 200 bullets fired at him and three explosions will barely hurt him.

Monitors were installed inside to guide the bulldozer through video cameras outside. The cells were protected by armored plastic and even provided with a pneumatic cleaning system. Marvin thought of everything down to the smallest detail. Inside there was air conditioning, a gas mask, a refrigerator with some provisions and water. He also prepared weapons: a Ruger-223 carbine, a Remington-306 rifle, pistols and ammunition. John initially knew that he would not get out of the cab again, so using the remote control of the crane, he lowered another armored box onto the roof, blocking the exit.

On June 4, 2004, he drove out of the garage. Heemeyer outlined in advance the objects that he decided to wipe off the face of the earth. First, he leveled the hated cement plant, all the shops and the administration building with the ground; mangled the facades of the houses of members of the city council; destroyed the bank, which wanted to take away the workshop from him, finding fault with an allegedly incorrectly issued loan. Then the buildings were demolished: the mayor's office, the city council, the fire inspection, as well as the house where the widow of the former mayor lived. Even the office of the gas company that refused to fill Marvin's cylinders, and the editorial office of the newspaper that wrote articles about him, did not survive.

13 administrative buildings were destroyed. And the damage caused amounted to 7 million dollars. Despite the fact that Heemeyer demolished almost half of the city, by some miracle, none of the inhabitants were injured. Of course, they tried to stop the bulldozer. They shot at him, threw grenades at him, blocked his way with a road tractor-grader, but no one could even slow down the machine of destruction. The grader was easily thrown aside, and when the cooling radiator was shot at the armored car, it still continued its inexorable march. The engines of such machines are very strong, and they do not soon wedge from overheating.

Finally, the Killdozer (that is, the killer bulldozer, as it was later called) nevertheless got stuck in the ruins of the building, falling into a small basement. He was no longer able to leave - the engine finally jammed from overheating. The cabin was cut only the next day. When it was opened, it turned out that John Marvin had already been dead for a day. The 52-year-old welder shot himself in the head as soon as he finished his job. They decided to cut the Killdozer into many parts and take them to different landfills, since Heemeyer had fans who could disassemble the car for souvenirs.

This is such an amazing story, especially for the law-abiding United States of America. This case can be assessed in different ways. Marvin found a considerable number of admirers around the world. He was called "the last hero of America" and was used as a symbol of confrontation individual person soulless state system.

So, how did a perfectly respectable American taxpayer and useful citizen come to such a life? Of course, everything can be attributed to the military past, to the “echoes of the war” and the “Vietnamese syndrome”. But after all, although Marvin served in Vietnam, during the war he worked as a mechanic at the airfield, repairing and servicing US Air Force aircraft, and it is not known whether he took any part in the hostilities at all. Although, of course, war is not a mother and always leaves a certain imprint on the psyche of people who have been to it.

It is also hard to believe that Heemeyer was a mentally ill, inadequate person. No one noticed mental abnormalities in his behavior. In addition, for a year and a half, he very rationally, balanced and thoughtfully carried out his project.

We, “born in the USSR” and living in Russia, where, unfortunately, always “the severity of the laws was compensated by the optionality of their implementation” and “the laws were that they could breathe: where you turned, it went there”, where “from prison and from the bag no one - from the proletarian to the oligarch - promises, - we all do not really understand why Marvin was so outraged by the decision of the authorities to expand the plant and revise the boundaries of his property with the payment of compensation to him. For us, this situation, unfortunately, is a harsh everyday life. They build a new road, a microdistrict or an elite village - and the house in which, perhaps, you were born and which your parents built, is demolished, and they give you an apartment in a concrete box, in a completely different, inconvenient area for you. This happens all the time.

But all this is unthinkable chaos for the American layman. How! After all, this is my private property. And she is sacred, I am a free citizen of a free country. Although corruption and human insecurity before the law are present in America, especially now. Of course, it is unpleasant for everyone to leave their familiar place, which you yourself have chosen, got used to and arranged. But after all, Heemeyer was also offered a lot of money, several times more than the real cost of the site - so to speak, compensation for moral damage. Yes, and free land in Colorado, I'm sure, a lot, tea is not Rublevo-Uspenskoe. It was possible to safely buy a new site and rebuild the workshop even better and larger than before, even more than one. In addition, besides the seizure of property, there are much more terrible things. For example, when you or your loved ones are illegally imprisoned or when the state takes away your children, which is practiced all the time in Western countries.

This man, according to the testimony of people who knew him personally, was prone to irascibility, rancor, and resentment. Apparently, the tendency to anger, aggression and sociopathy prevented him from starting a family. It is also known that Heemeyer had no relatives and friends in the city and its environs. He did not have a family, close people, communication and care for which could soften his heart, become the goal of his life.

He knew in advance that after his action he would never get out of the tractor again. His act was not the revenge of Monte Cristo, with the desire to restore his good name and enrich himself. It was not even the act of Herostratus, who, although he was executed, saw the fruits of his destructive activity, saw the reaction of people and realized that he would not be forgotten. John didn't need any of that. Otherwise, he would not have shot himself in the cockpit, but, having done his job, calmly surrendered to the authorities and would not have spent a very long time in a humane American prison, giving interviews and watching programs with his participation on TV.

His task and goal were quite different. In this case, satisfying the thirst for revenge, which lasted several tens of minutes, because the bulldozer was able to turn half the city into ruins very quickly, was the goal that Marvin had been working towards for several years. Surely, he had repeatedly imagined how the city would shudder from the lion's roar of the 400-horsepower Killdozer engine. How pavements will tremble and glass will tinkle when a multi-ton steel monster rolls towards its goals. How offices and houses of hated enemies will crumble and fall.

According to local authorities, he fired 15 shots, including at transformers and propane tanks, which posed a huge threat to the population. True, there are other eyewitness accounts that Heemeyer fired into the air to scare off the police. But one way or another, if you suddenly demolish 13 buildings in broad daylight and at the same time shoot right and left, only a miracle can save people from death.

Overall rating of the material: 4.9

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STORIES

Marvin Heemeyer - the last Hero America

This story has a sad ending. The inconspicuous town of Granby, Colorado, became known as the last resting place of the last American hero - Marvin Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 - June 4, 2004).

In general, 52-year-old welder Marvin Heemeyer lived in Granby, repaired car mufflers and did not touch anyone. Until the local cement plant Mountain Park decided to expand. Marvin's small workshop was closely adjacent to the cement factory, which began to force Heemeyer and other neighbors to sell their land.

People are small and weak, and corporations are big and strong, so soon, in an unequal struggle, all the neighbors of the plant surrendered and ceded their land plots to him. But not Heemeyer. He officially bought his plot for a workshop and a shop at an auction a few years ago for pretty decent money. To do this, he sold his share in a large car service in Denver and therefore was not going to part with his legal property. The manufacturers were never able to acquire his land, although they tried to do it by hook or by crook.

Desperate to resolve the issue amicably, Marvin began to persecute. Since all the land around Heemeyer's workshop already belonged to the plant, all communications and the entrance to the house were blocked. Marvin decided to build another road, and even bought a decommissioned Komatsu D355A-3 bulldozer for this, restoring the engine on it in his workshop.

The city administration refused permission to lay new road. The bank found fault with the registration of a mortgage loan and threatened to take away the house. Heemeyer tried to restore justice by suing Mountain Park, but lost the lawsuit.

Several times he was run over by the tax retail, the Fire and Sanitary Inspectorate, who issued a $2,500 fine for having an unsanitary tank in his workshop. Marvin could not connect to the sewer to drain the sewage from the tank, since the land on which the ditch was to be dug also belonged to the plant, and the plant was not going to give him such permission. Marvin paid the fine by attaching a short note to the receipt when sending it: "Cowards."

Some time later, his father died (March 31, 2004). Marvin went to bury him, and while he was away, the electricity and water were turned off for him and the workshop was sealed. After that, he closed himself in the workshop for several months and practically no one saw him.

All this time, Heemeyer, disillusioned with the vaunted American justice, was completing the creation of a weapon of retaliation - an armored bulldozer. He sheathed his Komatsu with 12 mm steel sheets laid with a centimeter layer of cement. Equipped with TV cameras with image output to monitors inside the cabin. Equipped cameras with lens cleaning systems in case they were blinded by dust and debris. Prudent Marvin stocked up on food, water, a gas mask and weapons (Barrett M82 rifle, Ruger AC556 carbine, Magnum revolver with cartridges). With the help of a remote control, he lowered an armor box onto the chassis, locking himself inside. In order to lower this armor shell onto the bulldozer's cab, Heemeyer used a makeshift crane. “Lowering it, Heemeyer knew that after that he would not get out of the car,” police experts said.

Marvin made a list of targets in advance - objects belonging to those whom he considered it necessary to take revenge. To begin with, he drove through the territory of the plant, carefully demolishing the plant management building, production workshops and, in general, everything down to the last barn. Then he moved through the town. He removed the facades from the houses of the members of the city council. Demolished the building of the bank, which tried to put pressure on him through early repayment of a mortgage loan. He destroyed the buildings of the gas company, which refused to fill his kitchen gas cylinders after a fine, the city hall building, the offices of the city council, the fire department, the warehouse, several residential buildings owned by the mayor of the city. He tore down the local newspaper and the public library. In short, Marvin tore down everything that had anything to do with local authorities including their private homes. Moreover, he showed good awareness of who owns what. Marvin did not touch the houses of other residents of the town.

Of course, they tried to stop Himeyer. First, the local sheriff with deputies. Then the local police, using revolvers and shotguns. The local SWAT team was alerted. Then forest rangers. SWAT had grenades, rangers had assault rifles. A particularly dashing sergeant jumped from the roof onto the hood of a bulldozer and tried to throw a stun grenade into the exhaust pipe, but the son of a bitch Heemeyer, as it turned out, welded a grate into it, so the only thing that the bulldozer lost as a result was the pipes themselves. The driver's tear gases were not taken - the monitors were visible even in a gas mask. All attempts to stop the bulldozer were in vain.

Heemeyer actively fired back through loopholes cut in the armor. Not a single person was hurt by his fire, because he shot significantly higher than his head, in other words, into the sky, because he did not want innocent victims, but simply wanted to scare the security forces so that they would not particularly interfere with him. He succeeded: the police did not dare to approach him anymore. In total, counting the rangers, by that time there were about 40 people. The bulldozer took more than 200 hits from everything that the policemen had - from service revolvers to M-16s and grenades. They also tried to stop him with a hefty scraper (digger). However, Komatsu without special work shoved the scraper into the front of the store. The car stuffed with explosives on the path of Heemeyer also did not give the desired result. The only achievement of the police in an attempt to counteract Marvin was the bulldozer's radiator pierced by a ricochet - however, as the experience of quarry work shows, such bulldozers do not immediately pay attention even to a complete failure of the cooling system.

All that the police could actually do in the end was to evacuate 1.5 thousand residents and block all roads, including federal highway No. 40 leading to Denver (the blocking of the federal highway was especially shocking for everyone).

To the heap, Marvin decided to tear down the small wholesale store "Gambles". The bulldozer ironed the ruins of the department store and stopped. In the sudden silence, the steam escaping from the broken radiator whistled furiously. The bulldozer was covered with debris from the roof, it got stuck and stalled.

At first, the police were afraid for a long time to approach Heemeyer's bulldozer, and then they made a hole in the armor for a long time, trying to get the welder out of his caterpillar fortress (three plastic charges did not give the desired effect). They feared the last trap that Marvin might lay for them. When the armor was finally pierced by the autogen, Marvin was already dead. Marvin kept the last cartridge for himself. He was not going to give himself alive into the clutches of his enemies.

The aftermath of Marvin's war was aptly described by the governor of Colorado: "the city looks as if a tornado had swept through it." The city actually suffered $5,000,000 worth of damage, and $2,000,000 worth of damage to the plant. Given the small scale of the town, this meant almost complete destruction. The plant never recovered from the attack and sold the area along with the ruins.

Then the investigation began. It turned out that Heemeyer's creation was so reliable that it could withstand not only a grenade explosion, but also an artillery shell. At first they wanted to put the Bulldozer on a pedestal and make it a local landmark, but the majority insisted on melting it down.

In people, this case causes extremely mixed emotions. On the one hand, antisocial actions aimed at destruction usually cause condemnation. But on the other hand, Heemeyer's act was approved by many residents of the United States and around the world. Marvin Heemeyer began to be called "the last American hero" who challenged the social injustice that drowns small people in their unequal struggle with big corporations and the state machine. Many consider the act of Marvin Heemeyer to be admirable, because he rightly fought for his rights: in his small war, only the property of his offenders suffered and not a single person died.

This story is not new, but will not leave anyone indifferent.

There was this man with a capital M, named Marvin John Heemeyer.

He worked as a welder, repairing car mufflers in the town of Granby, Colorado. The town is microscopic, 2200 inhabitants. He had a workshop there, with a store. As I understand it, he officially bought the land plot under this workshop for quite decent money at an auction (something about $ 15,000, for this he sold his share in a large car service in Denver).

Granby, Colorado Still, as a hobby, he built snowmobiles and used them to drive honeymooners around Granby during the winter. Like in a limousine. He even had an appropriate license (I never suspected that such activities could be licensed at all). In my opinion, the uncle was quite good-natured and extremely cool. However, "While many people described Heemeyer as a likeable guy, others said he was not someone to cross." He served at one time in the Air Force, as an airfield technician, and since then he has been working steadily in the engineering and technical part. He lived to be fifty-two years old, unmarried (some kind of sad love story happened to him at one time).
Heemeyer, a 52-year-old welder, has lived in Granby for several years fixing car mufflers. His small workshop was closely adjacent to the Mountain Park cement plant. To the annoyance of Heemeyer and the plant's other neighbors, Mountain Park decided to expand, forcing them to sell their land.

Sooner or later, all the neighbors of the plant surrendered, but not Heemeyer.
The manufacturers were never able to acquire his land, although they tried to do it by hook or by crook. In general, having despaired of culturally resolving the issue, the peasant began to persecute. Since all the land around the workshop already belonged to the plant, all communications and the entrance to the house were blocked. Marvin decided to build another road, and even bought a decommissioned "Komatsu D355A-3" bulldozer for this purpose, restoring the engine on it in his workshop.

The city administration refused permission to build a new road. The bank found fault with the registration of a mortgage loan and threatened to take away the house.
Heemeyer tried to restore justice by suing Mountain Park, but lost the lawsuit.

The retail tax office, the fire inspectorate, and sanitary and epidemiological supervision ran over several times, the latter issued a fine of $ 2,500 for the enchanting "junk cars on the property and not being hooked up to the sewer line" (in general, in his workshop "there was a reservoir, not meeting sanitary standards.”), let me remind you, it was about a car repair shop. Marvin could not connect to the sewer, because the land on which the ditch was to be dug also belonged to the plant and the plant was in no hurry to give him such permission. Marvin paid. By attaching to the receipt when sending a short note - "Cowards". Some time later, his father died (31-Mar-2004), Marvin went to bury him, and while he was away, the electricity and water were cut off for him and the workshop was sealed. After that, he closed himself in the workshop. Almost no one saw him.

It took about two months, according to some reports, and about a year and a half, according to others, to create the Armored Bulldozer .. Sheathed it with twelve-millimeter steel sheets laid with a centimeter layer of cement. Equipped with TV cameras with image output to monitors inside the cabin. Equipped cameras with lens cleaning systems in case they were blinded by dust and debris. Prudent Marvin stocked up on food, water, ammunition and a gas mask. (Two Ruger-223s and one Remington-306 with cartridges.) With the help of a remote control, he lowered an armor box onto the chassis, locking himself inside. To lower this shell onto the cab of a bulldozer, Heemeyer used a makeshift crane. “Lowering it, Heemeyer knew that after that he would not get out of the car,” police experts said. And at 14:30 left the garage.
It looked like this:

Marvin made a list of targets ahead of time. Anyone who felt it necessary to take revenge.
"Sometimes, as he put it in his notes, reasonable men must do unreasonable things."

To begin with, he drove through the territory of the plant, carefully demolishing the plant administration building, production workshops and, in general, everything down to the last shed.

Ruins of Mountain Park Inc. Cement Plant Administration.

Cement Plant Mountain Park Inc.

Then he moved through the town. He removed the facades from the houses of the members of the city council. Demolished the building of the bank, which tried to press him through the early return of the mortgage loan. He destroyed the buildings of the Ixel Energy gas company, which refused to fill his kitchen gas cylinders after a fine, the building of the city hall, the office of the city council, the fire department, a warehouse, several residential buildings belonging to the mayor of the city. He tore down the editorial office of the local newspaper and the public library. In short, he demolished everything that had at least some relation to the local authorities, including their private houses. Moreover, he showed good awareness of who owns what.

Sheriff's parking lot

Municipal building that served as a hall and library

Liberty Bank

They tried to stop Himeyer. First, the local sheriff with deputies. Let me remind you that the bulldozer was equipped with centimeter spaced armor. The local police used revolvers-nines and shotguns. With clear results. Zero. The local SWAT team was alerted. Then forest rangers. SWAT had grenades, rangers had assault rifles. Some particularly dashing sergeant jumped from the roof onto the hood of a bulldozer and tried to throw a stun grenade down the exhaust pipe. It's hard to say what he wanted to achieve - the son of a bitch Heemeyer, as it turned out, welded a grate into it, so the only thing that the bulldozer lost as a result was the actual pipes. The sergeant, of course, also survived. The teardrop did not take the driver - the monitors were visible even in a gas mask.

Heemeyer actively fired back through loopholes cut in the armor. Not a single person was hurt by his fire. Because he shot significantly higher than the goals. In other words, to the sky. However, the police did not dare to approach him any more. In total, counting the huntsmen, by that time about 40 people had gathered. The bulldozer took more than 200 hits from everything from service revolvers to M-16s and grenades. They tried to stop him with a hefty scraper. "Komatsu D355A" without much difficulty shoved the scraper backwards into the front of the store and left it there. The car stuffed with explosives on the path of Heemeyer also did not give the desired result. The only achievement was a radiator pierced by a ricochet - however, as the experience of quarrying shows, such bulldozers do not immediately pay attention even to a complete failure of the cooling system.

"Heemeyer's War" ended at 16:23.

To the heap, Marvin decided to tear down the small wholesale store "Gambles". In my opinion, there was simply nothing more to demolish there, there was still a station for refueling liquefied gas, but its explosion would have smashed half the town without making out where the mayor's house was and where the scavenger was.

The bulldozer stopped, ironing the ruins of the Gambles department store. In the sudden deathly silence, steam escaping from a broken radiator whistled furiously, it was filled up with roof debris, it got stuck and died out.

At first, the police were afraid for a long time to approach Heemeyer's bulldozer, and then they made a hole in the armor for a long time, trying to get the welder out of his caterpillar fortress (three plastic charges did not give the desired effect). They feared the last trap that Marvin might lay for them. When the armor was finally pierced with an autogen, he had already been dead for half a day. Marvin kept the last cartridge for himself. He was not going to give himself alive into the clutches of his enemies.

Heemeyer was not one to give up!

As the governor of Colorado so aptly put it, "the city looks like it's been tornadoed through." The city was indeed damaged by $5,000,000, the factory by $2,000,000. On the scale of a small town, this meant almost complete destruction. The plant never recovered from the attack and sold the area along with the ruins.

Destruction Map

Some smart people wanted to put the bulldozer on a pedestal and make it a landmark, but the majority insisted on melting it down. For the inhabitants of the town, this incident causes, as you might guess, extremely mixed emotions.

Then the investigation began. It turned out that “Heemeyer’s creation was so reliable that it could withstand not only a grenade explosion, but also a not very powerful artillery shell: it was completely covered with armored plates, each of which consisted of two sheets of half-inch (about 1.3 cm) steel, fastened together with a cement pad.

“He was a nice guy,” recall people who knew Heemeyer closely.
"You shouldn't have pissed him off." “If he was your friend, then he was best friend. Well, if the enemy is the most dangerous, ”Marvin's comrades say.

This act was admired by many people in the US and around the world. Marvin Heemeyer began to be called "the last American hero." Now this case is assessed as a spontaneous anti-globalist action.

The tragic story of Marvin Heemeyer, a fifty-two-year-old welder who lived in the town of Granby for only a few years, excited not only the United States, but the whole world. Now this act is considered as a spontaneous action of an anti-globalist. Marvin Heemeyer is America's last hero. This is how journalists dubbed him for his intransigence and uncompromising struggle against the corrupt state system.

Biography

Marvin Himayer was born on October 28, 1951. He graduated from school in 1968. A year later he went to serve in the US Air Force. On March 17, 1971, he was sent to fight in Vietnam. There he served at the air base as a senior aviator. After 4 years, he was demobilized, and he returned to his homeland, Marvin's acquaintances describe his character in different ways. Some speak of him as a good and friendly guy, while others consider him unreliable, too suspicious and dangerous.

Advocate of the legalization of gambling

Despite the fact that Heemeyer did not live long in the town of Granby, he managed to make both friends and enemies. His character was very controversial. Take, for example, the case when he, as the owner of a muffler repair shop, once threatened his client to kill her husband if she did not pay him for repairs.

His acquaintances said that if you have a friend, then it’s better not to find Marvin, but if he decides that you are an enemy, then it’s hard to imagine a more dangerous opponent than him.

Conflict situation

The life story of Marvin Heemeyer in the town of Granby at first did not portend anything tragic. Until the cement factory, near the walls of which his workshop was located, did not decide to expand. The fact is that not far from Gramby was the winter resort of Aspen. Millionaires like to come there, and each of them wants to have their own home there. The fashion for winter cottages provoked a construction boom, as a result of which the demand for cement increased.

In 2001, city authorities and a special commission approved the construction of a new cement plant for Mountain Park. After that, the owners of the enterprise began to buy up nearby land plots. Their methods, to put it mildly, were not always legal.

The cement company paid an average of 50 thousand dollars for each of the plots, but Heemeyer refused to sell his land at that price and asked for 270 thousand. When the buyers agreed, he raised the price to 500 thousand, and then to 1 million. Here are the owners decided to take control of it.

Last straw

This is where the scandalous story of Marvin Heemeyer with the owners of the cement plant begins. According to the territorial plan approved by the city authorities, the enterprise cut off the only road leading to the welder's workshop. Marvin filed an application to the court to appeal this decision, but lost. He wanted to get permission to install a sewer, but the owner of the land refused him.

Seeing such a disrespectful attitude on the part of the official authorities, he buys himself a decommissioned killdozer. Marvin Heemeyer repaired the engine himself and decided to build another road to his workshop, bypassing the factory areas. But here, too, disappointment awaited him, since the city administration forbade doing this, and even fined him for the lack of sewerage for 2.5 thousand dollars. He paid the fine, and attached a note to the receipt with only one word - "cowards."

It seems that the story of Marvin Heemeyer would not have been so sad if the city authorities had not added the last drop to his patience. When his father died, he went to the funeral, and when he returned a few days later, he found that his water and electricity had been turned off and the workshop had been sealed. In addition, the local bank threatened to take away his house, as allegedly an error was found in the execution of a mortgage loan.

Preparing for war

As already mentioned, in the spring of 2004, Marvin's father died. His younger brother's wife later recalled that Heemeyer behaved a little strangely at the funeral, as if he had come to say goodbye to all his relatives. In addition, it seemed to her that he did not want to leave at all.

Marvin began work on improving his bulldozer almost as soon as he was denied permission to build a driveway to his workshop. He drove his tractor, which he planned to use to pave the road, into the garage and proceeded to modify it.

Modernization

First Heemeyer decided to strengthen the cabin with the engine. To do this, he installed home-made composite armor, which he made from sheets of steel and cement poured between them. After that, he equipped several loopholes around the control center itself, and also installed one video camera in front and behind, and then displayed their image on the monitors in the cockpit.

Heemeyer Marvin John prepared very carefully, so he transferred a small supply of food and several bottles of water to the tractor cab. He did not forget about the air tank, gas mask and weapons. He also had a revolver.

As expected, he spent from three months to one and a half years upgrading his bulldozer. Surely Heemeyer was struck by the fact that none of the casual visitors to the workshop were surprised or alarmed to see such a powerful armored vehicle.

Before Marvin Heemeyer's war began, he specially recorded his message on several cassettes. On them he left an explanation of his act.

On Friday, June 4, he sent all the recorded tapes to his younger brother, after which he closed himself in the cab of a bulldozer. Using a homemade crane with remote control the man lowered the armored box onto the chassis. As mentioned earlier, he equipped his tractor with several video cameras and monitors. In addition, in case they were contaminated with debris or dust, the craftsman brought air compressors to them.

At 3 o'clock that afternoon, Marvin Heemeyer's bulldozer easily broke through the wall of the workshop and crashed hard into the Mountain Park concrete plant building. After these actions, the 911 service was already called non-stop.

Cody Dochev, who witnessed how a huge and unusual armored tractor literally destroys the plant, wanted to intervene. He tried to climb into the cab of the bulldozer, but they began to fire at him from embrasures.

After about 10-15 minutes, the buildings of the enterprise were completely destroyed, and several cars parked on its territory were destroyed. After that, Heemeyer's car drove onto the highway and rattled towards the city.

At this time, an unusual sight could be observed on the road: a whole line lined up behind a slowly moving bulldozer, all with sirens on. One of the police cars tried to block his way, but was crushed like a tin can. Glen Traynor, a sheriff's deputy, managed to climb onto the cab of a riding bulldozer and fire 37 bullets from his service pistol, but it was impossible to penetrate such armor.

City of Granby

I must say that Heemeyer had a whole list of objects that he planned to destroy. When his car arrived ultimate goal, he was already met by the city police. Of course, against such a hulk, the employees did not have any weapons. Since it was impossible to penetrate such armor with ordinary cartridges, special forces were called in to help, who tried to undermine the bulldozer. But all attempts to destroy the car and the one who sits in it failed.

All that the police could do in this situation was to warn the locals of the danger that threatened them. Meanwhile, from a helicopter flying over the city, live This tragic event was broadcast on all news channels.

Despite the fact that it was quite difficult for Marvin to control such a bulky and clumsy vehicle, he managed to find and destroy his intended targets. And they were the buildings of the city hall and the editorial office of the local newspaper, the house of the former mayor and other buildings. On the way to their targets, the bulldozer destroyed cars left on the road. Although the destruction was significant, no one was seriously injured.

Death of the last hero

Soon the police got hold of an industrial bulldozer, but the armored Komatsu easily knocked it over to the side of the road. Within an hour, Marvin Heemeyer tore down 13 buildings and drove to the next intended target, Gamble's Equipment. The significant weight of the armor and the damage caused by small arms began to gradually affect the maneuverability of the tractor. In addition, the radiator was punctured and coolant was leaking out of it. As a result, the car began to lose power and, breaking through the wall of the supermarket, fell into a small basement under its own gravity. was no longer able to pull the tractor out of the trap.

After that, a special forces group surrounded vehicle, and someone reported hearing a lone gunshot from the cockpit. The car stalled forever, finally ending its destructive march, which lasted only 2 hours and 7 minutes, causing $7 million in damage. Thus ended the story of Marvin John Himeer.

Consequences

To get inside the cabin, the special forces used explosives. It was possible to crack the armor only by applying it. After his 12-hour work, the body of Marvin Heemeyer was removed to the surface. As the police established, he shot himself with his .375 pistol. Later, it was repeatedly emphasized in all media that Heemeyer Marvin John was the only victim. It seems that journalists tried to cite this fact as proof of his rare ingenuity and heroism.

But, as you know, there were people in the buildings just before the destruction. In addition, he fired at fuel containers, and this could lead to large explosions and numerous casualties. Heemeyer also made an attempt to fill up a wall in one of the buildings, near which two policemen were standing.

After the lifeless body was pulled out of the cockpit, several rifles and a list of addresses of businesses and buildings with the names of their owners were found inside. By the way, all destroyed property was insured, and then in as soon as possible restored. But the cement plant never recovered from the destruction, the owners felt that they needed to get rid of it, and sold it.

Marvin Heemeyer is America's last hero. So the journalists dubbed him. Today in the US there is a group of people who literally idolize him for his courage, intransigence and uncompromising struggle against the corrupt state system.

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