COLORADO, USA — It was a bizarre moment in Colorado history. Now, a new documentary film explores the people and events involved in the 2004 Granby bulldozer rampage.
The film called “Tread” tells the story of Marvin Heemeyer, the Granby man behind the incident.
Heemeyer was reportedly upset about a years-long zoning dispute with the town council when he plowed into city buildings, businesses, and even a home using a bullet-proof bulldozer he spent a year and a half outfitting for the revenge mission. His rampage ended when he died by suicide.
Nobody else was injured or killed.
“When you look at the machine that Heeymeyer built, right away, there’s a sort of an inherent character question,” said Paul Solet, the filmmaker and director behind Tread. “What kind of person would both be angry enough and have the skill enough to create that machine and to sustain that resentment as long as he did to both build it and then carry it out?”
Solet explores those questions in his film, with the help of people who were there.
“It really deserved to be told, it had to be told, by the people of Granby,” he said.
He uses old footage, Heeymeyer's own recordings, and stories from the people who live there. In some instances, filmmakers re-created some visuals of the story to help the viewers better understand it.
“It’s very well done, the recreations are amazing, especially the way they rebuilt the ‘killdozer,’” said Patrick Brower, former editor of Sky-Hi News in Granby.
Brower was both a journalist and a victim the day of the rampage.
“I went out, took some photos, went back in thinking he would drive right by [our building]. He didn’t. He took a sharp right turn and smashed into our building,” he said. “This massive, 85-ton tank, bulldozer tank, slamming into the building. It was just absolutely unbelievable, and it was scary.”
Brower later wrote a book about what happened, partly, to address some portrayals of Heemeyer that left him frustrated. He said some people celebrated Heemeyer as a hero for how he got revenge on the government and people he felt wronged him.
“They’ve been using false narratives to make him look like he was justified for what he did,” Brower said, “I thought it was really unfair. I knew the facts of what happened.”
Brower’s book is titled “Killdozer: The True Story of the Colorado Bulldozer Rampage.” As an author, journalist and long-time resident of the community, he was able to help Solet with research and work on the film.
Solet said he hopes people will watch his movie and reflect on their own experiences and feelings.
“My hope is that anyone who watches this movie, whatever their perspective is, bringing to this movie that it is opened,” he said. “And they think a little bit about what resentment is and anger is and how we experience that on a day to day basis. We don’t all go build a tank, but if you find me a person who tells me they haven’t been angry at their boss or something like this, I’ll find you a liar.”
He said he also hopes the film helps people reconsider how we communicate with each other.
“Ultimately, the people that Marvin was so angry at, are people who had a lot in common with him," he said. "These are hardworking Americans, they’re out working with their hands every day. These are self-made people, who are scrappy and tough and vibrant. And at the end of the day, had communication been a little bit different, you would have had a very different result.”
"Tread" premiered at the SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival in 2019. The movie opened in some theaters starting Friday, Feb. 21, 2020. It will expand to more theaters in the coming days, and available on-demand starting Feb. 28.
Brower will be attending some showings in Colorado, where he’ll participate in questions and answer sessions with the audience as well as signings for his book.
For a list of those locations and dates, visit Brower's website.
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