No one was killed on June 4, 2004, in Granby, Colorado during an attack in which significant swaths of Town were destroyed utterly by a pre-meditated act. Had it been a foreign terrorist act, it may have started a war. The motives of the business owner who operated the dozer were relatively clear upon reflection. He felt wronged by a series of local land use decisions on and around his property that didn’t go his way. He planned alone for months to wreak vengeance upon the local officials who took part in those decisions by steering his bulldozer all across town to destroy their private property and many civic buildings. Some have come to see his as an act of heroism.
That fateful day, what led to it and how it became conveniently interpreted by outsiders, are the topics of Killdozer: The True Story of the Colorado Bulldozer Rampage, by Patrick Brower published in 2017.
Fourteen years later, the Town of Granby has little interest in revisiting or remembering that day. Killdozer does not provide “smoking gun” lessons for Granby leaders who are moving forward with bold endeavors today. Any physical destruction from 2004 is no longer evident. Granby endures as a tourist town of under 2,000 residents on the back side of Rocky Mountain National Park. It sustains a 1950s feel in spite of some very modern, upscale development on the edge of town.
Local newspaperman, Patrick Brower, was in the room during those land use hearings in Granby. His newspaper offices were destroyed for his innocuous part in reporting it. What haunts Brower and seems to be the impetus behind writing Killdozer is the mundane accumulation of events leading up to that day, how they still don’t add up. Marvin Heemeyer did not stand out in a rugged, remote county filled with strong-willed characters. The dozer operator seemed normal, beyond his displeasure at those who did not share his quiet outrage at the decisions. Today, he might be gratified that his actions have taken a life far beyond the small Western town whose name hasn’t completely shaken memories of that day. Brower seeks to reclaim at least the facts by writing the book.
While fascinating, Killdozer leads to more questions than answers. Google videos of that day in Granby, and read the confirmation bias of comments about that bulldozer-driving American citizen who was interpreted as a hero resisting his government. It is hard not to see the reaction as an extension of hostilities fueled a spectrum of anti-government ideas in America today. A shadow over the book is why this kind of civic violence is not condemned, and whether violence to civility and the civic realm is tacitly increasingly in frequency and acceptability.
Heemeyer had a plan in his mind. It was by incompetence that no one was killed. He tried. There is no answer how to prevent such a rampage, before it or during it, and even now most questions that he could have answered remain as questions. He had bullying tendencies, but he never revealed his plan, and his plan was unstoppable by local capabilities—including other heavy equipment. It ended because the dozer overheated from the weight of its armor and got stuck in a collapsed building. Law enforcement, to the later glee of many internet viewers had no effective way to stop the armored dozer. Heemeyer killed himself inside, preventing any cross-examination that may have provided better closure or clues.
That day affected a young, newly elected small-town mayor in Eagle, just an hour away, as I somberly reflected on my new role as local civic leader. I saw the Granby incident as a direct threat to the community and the role which I served. Leading contentious hearings about topics in Eagle that often over spilled the chambers at Town Hall back then, I contemplated how to facilitate constructive dialogue, and manage a fair process so emotions did not get out of hand. I weighed these approaches to managing a public decision against the volcanic anger against the civil realm that seemed to build and be reinforced daily. I knew of those who wish to “strangle” government to render it ineffective. I came to see the value of engaging skeptical citizens in a fair process, and encouraging input. I also looked into some very angry eyes during long meetings.
Today, in the Trump era, in which a US President feels comfortable ridiculing the press, the justice system, and law enforcement while overriding due process for citizens, the violence of that day is even more ominous. As I read Killdozer, I wanted to better understand what local governments could do to avoid such a day to steer their communities away from such cynicism.
To be clear, no evidence exists that Heemeyer aligned with any anti-government group or movement. This was personal. Compassion for a wronged character who resists authority and rises up to take matters into his own hands is woven into our identity. So what does it say about us that after terrorizing a community, the perpetrator within hours of the event become embraced as a kind of misunderstood hero who took justice into his own hands?
I recommend that you read Killdozer and contemplate that for yourself.
