I don't know anything about dozers either except that this guy built a tank! Reports say that he even greased the steel plates to prevent people from being able to climb on top of it.
Posted on 06/07/2004 3:52:36 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
I don't know anything about dozers either except that this guy built a tank! Reports say that he even greased the steel plates to prevent people from being able to climb on top of it.
I can't be certain, but it looks like the air intake might have had some protection on it. In that case, he did a mighty fine job of constructing it so it could not be easily stopped.
Has anyone figured out how he got in? I did not see that answered in the article.
He was only dangerous to tyrants. No crime in that. You have to break a few eggs, to make a freedom omelette.
>>You tellin' me this guy is some kinda hero? <<
After reading the latst overview of what led to the event...
yes.
I think this guy was way to thorough to leave a detail like the air intake open to being corked or flooded. Easy enough to put it inside of his cab. Ditto on masking the exhaust. I think the probably welded himself in after closing the hatch.
He did weld the door shut. SWAT tried opening it with explosives three different times and finally had to resort to using a cutting torch.
What killed him? Did they find any guns inside?
Self-inflicted gun shot to the head.
Is that a fact, or what the SWAT team said after they blew his tank apart? Was he "Vince Fostered" after the fact?
Swat couldn't make a dent in the thing. They had to use a cutting torch to get the door open. There was no activity in the dozer for many hours before they were able to get inside because he was dead. He wasn't going to be taken alive. Watched the news video of the event here in Denver. I was rooting for the guy after learning of his plight and the way he went out of his way to avoid injuring people.
Is it confirmed he died of a self inflicted gun shot?
Denver Post Staff Writers
June 8, 2004; Page B-01
Section: DENVER AND WEST
Article ID: 1207321 -- 758 words
Granby - Marvin Heemeyer apparently was less than halfway finished with his planned rampage through Granby when his armored bulldozer stalled and he killed himself.
Grand County Undersheriff Glen Trainor said that two lists were found in Heemeyer's Grand Lake home, including names and the words "public buildings" written in longhand on 4-by-6-inch paper. He said he had no doubt that those named were people considered to be enemies.
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You can order this and other related articles from the Denver Post website here
Thanks. We'll probably never know for sure.
I don't know if anyone will know the full and complete truth to this story. However, I just got done reading a LONG newspaper article in the "The Denver Post" newspaper about what went on. It is pretty obvious that he had been planning this for at least 6 months based on his actions, divesting himself of most of his possessions and purchasing the steel plates and concrete to convert the bulldozer. Facts are listed that would be easy for anyone to check and either confirm or show as lies (which is unlike the story listed above).
It also included a number of photos. Of course, we all know that photos can be photoshopped. However, I believe the people writing this stuff are too lazy to do that. The photos included a picture of the 50cal Barrett rifle inside the dozer and its bungee cord holder so he could shoot it out a port. Also listed as found inside was a 30cal semi-auto rifle, a .223 Ruger Mini-14, a 9mm Tec-9, and a .357 Magnum revolver. The revolver is reportedly what he used to kill himself.
There are also drawings and photos of the armor plating. This guy spent a lot of time making sure that he could see where he was going, he could shoot out without being shot (at least easily), that the engine could not be flooded out, and that the radiator could not be shot out. For example, the viewing ports had 4 layers of thick plexiglass spaced a few inches apart. If the people on the outside managed to blow through that, he had a 1/2" steel plate to close it off from the inside. A lot of other thought went into this machine to make it virtually unstoppable. If the guy knew how to drive it, it would probably have continued on until it ran out of fuel (which was just less than 200 gallons -- and the tank was full).
I am not happy with bureaucrats that make life miserable for people like this guy. However, I like even less people like the guy who wrote the above article. There are no facts listed above that can be independently investigated and verified or refuted. There are ONLY vague assertions and inuendo that are repeated in an attempt to make this guy a hero. He is not a hero. He is his own form of terrorist. Good riddance.
He is not a hero.
For some people, it is only a short trip to be driven to suicidal insanity. That does not make them a hero or a martyr. As an engineer for a private consultant (who is frequently hired by government agencies due to outsourcing), I have had to deal with nutcases like this on a number of occasions. Fortunately, they did not make a bulldozer into a tank.
However, from what I have read, they all seem to have the same problem that this guy had. There was land nearby his property that he did not own. He did not want anyone else to develop it. Nobody likes change. So he threw every roadblock he could in the planning board, city council, etc to try to stop someone from trying to use their own property as they saw fit. He failed as he should have.
If he had succeeded, you can bet someone would have posted here about some bureaucracy that stopped someone from using their own property as they saw fit and a bunch of others here would say it can be expected for someone treated that way to go crazy and they are a martyr. But they are not.
(I know this is an OLLLD story, but what the hell, no argument worth having is too late!)
So do you think Marvin was allowed to use HIS property as HE saw fit, when the building of this concrete plant went in next to his existing business? Doesn’t such a plant, when it goes through the planning and permit stages, have to submit reports on how its operation will affect existing residents and businesses? Why do they do that?
When Marvin opened his muffler shop the cement plant wasn’t there- indeed it COULD NOT have been because it wasnt zoned for that usage. Until the mayor and town council altered the zoning with a variance, which doomed Heemeyer’s muffler shop because it cut off access for his customers and choked it with dust and pollution.
Would it have been a problem if they opened a giant muffler shop next door or another business compatible with existing zoning ordnances? Doubtful. The mayor and town council altered the zoning for a big wallet, obviously bigger than Marvin’s, and let the chips fall where they may, and fall they did.
Yea, an old story -— LIKE FOUR YEARS OLD. Get a life.
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