A Colorado
man born in 1951 who started a repair shop business in 1992. It went well until 2001, when the town officials decided to build a concrete plant right in front of his shop despite his protests, effectively destroying his business as a whole. After two years of trying (and failing) to get
people to hear his side of the story, he was driven to
rage -- and eventually, revenge.
A year later, Heemeyer took a bulldozer and began modifying it; he placed
thick armor on it, rigged a couple of guns inside of it, a
bit of
AC so he wouldn't overheat; it eventually became known as the "Killdozer." After roughly eighteen months, his
work was complete, and his plan for revenge was in full swing.
On June 4,
2004, Heemeyer got in the bulldozer and went on a rampage through town, driving through several buildings, including (but not limited to) the town hall, the mayor's house, and of course, the concrete plant that started the whole mess.
Police eventually intervened -- but unfortunately, it's not easy to
stop a heavily-armored bulldozer, as they soon discovered -- especially when the
man in the bulldozer is trying to shoot you.
His rampage lasted for more than two hours, until his bulldozer was immobilized due to various damages. Knowing that he was completely screwed now, Heemeyer
shot himself. Shortly after that, they discovered a note where he said, "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable...Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things.
The public's view of Marvin Heemeyer was...mixed, to say the least; some of his supporters argued that he didn't intend to kill anyone (and he didn't, for the record), and that what he did was a perfect example of "Paying evil unto evil."
Some of his detractors argue that he very nearly killed several
people, and willfully
shot at the officers who tried to stop him. "He who fights monsters must be careful, lest he himself become a monster" comes to mind.
The event was ultimately overshadowed by the
death of Ronald Reagan the following day, but it still left a lasting impression on the
people it affected.
