Leviathan (Russian: Левиафан) is a 2014 Russian drama film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, co-written by Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin, and starring Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, and Vladimir Vdovichenkov. According to Zvyagintsev, the story of Marvin Heemeyer in the United States inspired him and it was adapted into a Russian setting,[3] but critics compare the story to the more similar biblical story of Naboth's Vineyard, where a King vies for his subjects' land and is motivated by his Queen to obtain it in a sly manner. The character development of the protagonist parallels another biblical figure, Job.[4] The producer Alexander Rodnyansky has said: "It deals with some of the most important social issues of contemporary Russia while never becoming an artist's sermon or a public statement; it is a story of love and tragedy experienced by ordinary people".[5] Critics noted the film as being formidable,[6][7] dealing with quirks of fate, power and money.[8]
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[9] Zvyagintsev and Negin won the award for Best Screenplay.[10] It won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.[11] It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for 2014 which was won by the film Ida from Poland.
Marvin Heemeyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marvin Heemeyer
Marvin Heemeyer.jpg
Marvin John Heemeyer
Born October 28, 1951
Died June 4, 2004 (aged 52)
Granby, Colorado, U.S.
Cause of death
Self-inflicted gunshot
Known for Killdozer rampage
Marvin John Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 – June 4, 2004) was a welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner most known for his rampage with a modified bulldozer. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, the former mayor's house, and other buildings in Granby, Colorado. The rampage ended when the bulldozer got stuck in the basement of a Gambles store he had previously destroyed. Heemeyer then killed himself with a handgun.
Heemeyer had been feuding with Granby officials, particularly over fines for violating city ordinances and a zoning dispute regarding a concrete factory constructed opposite his muffler shop.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Zoning dispute
3 Bulldozer modification
4 Rampage
4.1 Fate of the bulldozer
5 Motivation
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
§Background[edit]
Heemeyer lived in Grand Lake, Colorado, about 16 miles (26 km) away from Granby.[2] According to a neighbor, Heemeyer moved to town over 10 years prior to the incident. Heemeyer's friends stated that he had no relatives in the Granby-Grand Lake area.[3]
John Bauldree, a friend of Heemeyer, said that Heemeyer was an enjoyable person. Ken Heemeyer said his brother "would bend over backwards for anyone". While many people described Heemeyer as a likable person, others told a different story. Christie Baker said that Heemeyer threatened her husband after he refused to pay for a faulty muffler repair.[4] Baker said her husband later paid Heemeyer $124 via an intermediary.[4]
§Zoning dispute[edit]
In 1992, Heemeyer bought 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land from the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal agency organized to handle the assets of failed savings and loan institutions. He bought the land for $42,000 to build a muffler shop and subsequently agreed to sell the land to a concrete company owned by the Docheff family to build a concrete batch plant. The agreed price was $250,000 but according to Susan Docheff, Heemeyer changed his mind and increased the price to $375,000 and later demanded a deal worth approximately $1 million. Some believe this negotiation happened before the rezoning proposal was heard by the town council.[5]
In 2001, the zoning commission and the town's trustees approved the construction of a cement manufacturing plant. Heemeyer appealed the decisions unsuccessfully. For many years, Heemeyer had used the adjacent property as a way to get to his muffler shop. The plan for the cement plant blocked that access. In addition to the frustration engendered by this dispute over access, Heemeyer was fined $2,500 by the Granby government for various violations, including "junk cars on the property and not being hooked up to the sewer line".
As a last measure, Heemeyer petitioned the city with his neighbors and friends, but to no avail. He could not function without the sewer line and the cooperation of the town.[6]
§Bulldozer modification[edit]
Heemeyer leased his business to a trash company and sold the property several months prior to the rampage.
Heemeyer had bought a bulldozer two years before the incident with the intention of using it to build an alternative route to his muffler shop, but city officials rejected his request to build the road.
Notes found by investigators after the rampage indicate that the primary motivation for Heemeyer's bulldozer rampage was his fight to stop a concrete plant from being built near his shop. The notes indicated Heemeyer held grudges over the zoning approval. "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", Heemeyer wrote. "Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."[7]
Heemeyer took about a year and a half to prepare for his rampage. In notes found by investigators after the incident, Heemeyer wrote: "It's interesting how I never got caught. This was a part-time project over a 1½ year time period." Heemeyer was surprised that several men who had visited the shed late the previous year did not discover the modified bulldozer, "especially with the 2000-pound lift fully exposed". "Somehow their vision was clouded", he wrote.[7]
The machine used in the incident was a Komatsu D355A bulldozer[8] fitted with makeshift armor plating covering the cabin, engine and parts of the tracks. In places, the vehicle's armor was over 1 foot (30 cm) thick, consisting of 5000-psi Quikrete concrete mix sandwiched between sheets of tool steel (acquired from an automotive dealer in Denver) to make ad-hoc composite armor. This made the machine impervious to small arms fire and resistant to explosives; three external explosions and over 200 rounds of firearm ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it.[1]
For visibility, the bulldozer was fitted with several video cameras linked to two monitors mounted on the vehicle's dashboard. The cameras were protected on the outside by 3 inches (76 mm) shields of bullet-resistant plastic.[1] Onboard fans and an air conditioner were used to keep Heemeyer cool while driving and compressed air nozzles were fitted to blow dust away from the video cameras. He made three gun ports, fitted for a .50 caliber sniper rifle, a .308 semi automatic, and a .22 long rifle, all fitted with a half inch thick steel plate. Heemeyer apparently had no intention of leaving the cabin once he entered.[1] Authorities speculated Heemeyer may have used a homemade crane found in his garage to lower the armor hull over the dozer and himself. "Once he tipped that lid shut, he knew he wasn't getting out", Daly said. Investigators searched the garage where they believe Heemeyer built the vehicle and found cement, armor and steel.[1]
Afterwards, the modified bulldozer came to be known as "Killdozer", although only Heemeyer was killed in the incident.[9]
§Rampage[edit]
Heemeyer used an armor-plated Komatsu D355A bulldozer to destroy 13 buildings in Granby, Colorado.
On June 4, 2004, Heemeyer drove his armored bulldozer through the wall of his former business, the concrete plant, the Town Hall, the office of the local newspaper that editorialized against him, the home of a former judge's widow, and a hardware store owned by another man Heemeyer named in a lawsuit, as well as others. Owners of all the buildings that were damaged had some connection to Heemeyer's disputes.[10]
The rampage lasted 2 hours 7 minutes, destroying 13 buildings,[8] knocking out natural gas service to City Hall and the cement plant, and damaging a truck and part of a utility service center.[11] Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer was killed.[1] The cost of the damage was estimated at 7 million US dollars.[12][13]
According to Grand County commissioner James Newberry, Grand County emergency dispatchers used the reverse 911 emergency system to notify many residents and property owners of the rampage going on in the town.[3] Thus, many people were warned and were able to get out of harm's way.[citation needed]
Defenders of Heemeyer contended that he made a point of not hurting anybody during his bulldozer rampage;[1] Ian Daugherty, a bakery owner, said Heemeyer "went out of his way" not to harm anyone. Others offered different views. The sheriff's department argues that the fact that no one was injured was not due to good intent as much as it must have been due to luck. Heemeyer had installed two rifles in firing ports on the inside of the bulldozer,[14] and fired 15 bullets from his rifle at power transformers and propane tanks. "Had these tanks ruptured and exploded, anyone within one-half mile (800 m) of the explosion could have been endangered", the sheriff's department said; within such a range were 12 police officers and residents of a senior citizens complex.[5] The sheriff's department also asserted Heemeyer fired many bullets from his semi-automatic rifle at Cody Docheff when Docheff tried to stop the assault on his concrete batch plant by using a scraper. Later, Heemeyer fired on two state troopers before they had fired at him.[5] The sheriff's department also notes that 11 of the 13 buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction. At the town library, for example, a children's program was in progress when the incident began.[5] There might have been casualties if local emergency response hadn't worked so effectively.[2]
One officer dropped a flash-bang grenade down the bulldozer's exhaust pipe, with no immediate apparent effect. Local and state police, including a SWAT team, walked behind and beside the bulldozer occasionally firing, but the armored bulldozer was impervious to their shots. Attempts to disable the bulldozer's cameras with gunfire failed as the bullets were unable to penetrate the 3-inch bullet-resistant plastic. At one point during the rampage, Undersheriff Glenn Trainor managed to climb atop the bulldozer and rode the bulldozer "like a bronc-buster, trying to figure out a way to get a bullet inside the dragon".[2] However, he was eventually forced to jump off to avoid being hit with debris.[2] Further attempts to mount the bulldozer were hampered due to oil that Heemeyer had spread on the vehicle to hinder such attempts.[citation needed]
Two problems arose as Heemeyer destroyed the Gambles hardware store. The radiator of the dozer had been damaged and the engine was leaking various fluids, and Gambles had a small basement. The bulldozer's engine failed and Heemeyer dropped one tread into the basement and couldn't get out. The bulldozer became stuck. At this time the mayor was actually considering bringing in the United States Air Force with their Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as "Warthogs", to fire an anti-tank missile at the dozer, something unprecedented at the time. About a minute later, one of the SWAT team members who had swarmed around the machine reported hearing a single gunshot from inside the sealed cab. Heemeyer had shot himself.[1] The coroner stated that Heemeyer used his .357-caliber handgun in the suicide.[citation needed]
Heemeyer's body was removed by police. It took them twelve hours to cut through the hatch with an oxyacetylene cutting torch.[citation needed]
§Fate of the bulldozer[edit]
On April 19, 2005, it was announced that Heemeyer's bulldozer was being taken apart for scrap metal.[8] It was planned that individual pieces would be dispersed to many separate scrap yards to prevent admirers of Heemeyer from taking souvenirs.[8]
§Motivation[edit]
In addition to writings that he left on the wall of his shed, Heemeyer recorded a number of audio tapes explaining his motivation for the attack. He mailed these to his brother in South Dakota shortly before stepping into his bulldozer. Heemeyer's brother turned the tapes over to the FBI, who in turn sent them to the Grand County Sheriff's Department. The tapes were released by the Grand County Sheriff's Office on August 31, 2004. The tapes are about two and a half hours in length.[15]
The first recording was made on April 13, 2004. The last recording was made 13 days before the rampage.
"God built me for this job", Heemeyer said in the first recording. He also said it was God's plan that he not be married or have a family so that he could be in a position to carry out such an attack. "I think God will bless me to get the machine done, to drive it, to do the stuff that I have to do", he said. "God blessed me in advance for the task that I am about to undertake. It is my duty. God has asked me to do this. It's a cross that I am going to carry and I'm carrying it in God's name."[16]
Investigators later found Heemeyer's handwritten list of targets. According to the police, it included the buildings he destroyed, the local Catholic Church (which he didn't damage), and the names of various people who had sided against him in past disputes.[17]
§See also[edit]
Jerusalem bulldozer attack of 2008
Shawn Nelson, who went on a rampage in San Diego with an M60 Patton main battle tank stolen from a California National Guard armory in 1995.
This event on Heemeyer's rampage was also shown on the History Channel as part of the series Shockwave. The episode aired on July 8, 2008.
Russia's Golden Globe-winning film Leviathan was inspired by the story of Heemeyer.[18]
Filmmakers see a bigger message in Russia's 'Leviathan'
By MARK OLSEN contact the reporter Movies Entertainment Russia Europe Film Festivals Literature Leviathan (movie)
The filmmakers behind Russia's Academy Awards entry, 'Leviathan,' say their message is bigger than politics
The Russian film "Leviathan" is the story of a man fighting to save his home, his livelihood, his family, his dignity and his life, building a sweep and scope that is at once personal and epic.
Its dense combination of inspirations may include the biblical Book of Job, Heinrich von Kleist's medieval-set novella "Michael Kohlhaas," Thomas Hobbes' treatise "Leviathan" and the true story of a Colorado man who went on a rampage in 2004 with a bulldozer, but the film manages, nevertheless, to have the deep, expansive feel of a classic Russian novel.
Trailer: 'Leviathan'
Check out the trailer for the Russia's "Leviathan."
Co-written and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, the film won the screenplay prize when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Spirit Award and has made numerous critics' top 10 lists. And in a surprise to many, though the office of the film's venally corrupt small-town mayor prominently features a portrait of Vladimir Putin, Russia entered it as that country's submission for the Academy Award for best foreign language film. "Leviathan" recently made the academy's shortlist of nine films now vying for the final five nominations.
Kolya (Alexey Serebryakov) is a mechanic and repairman in a small fishing village in northern Russia. He lives and works on land that has long been in his family, along with his wife, Lilya (Elena Lyadova), and son by a previous marriage. The town's mayor (Roman Madyanov) wants the land for himself and will do anything to get it. Kolya's old friend Dmitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), now a lawyer in Moscow, comes to help with the legal proceedings, armed with damning evidence against the mayor. The situation escalates from there.
lRelated Oscar foreign language submissions set a record -- again
GOLD STANDARD
Oscar foreign language submissions set a record -- again
SEE ALL RELATED
8
"You can say that it's a tragedy of human destiny," Zvyagintsev said during a recent interview in Los Angeles sitting with his producer, Alexander Rodnyansky, and a translator. At times Rodnyansky would take over translating for Zvyagintsev, perhaps because he had a good idea what the filmmaker wanted to say, and then roll into speaking for himself.
Ever since its Cannes premiere, Zvyagintsev has seemed guarded in what he says regarding any implied criticism of the current Russian government and its policies. For him, the film is simply bigger than that.
"Perhaps there is a social criticism; however, it's secondary," he said, noting that he does not have a television and frequently learns about the news of the day from Rodnyansky. "It's more about the parallel to the Book of Job, and what really makes me happy is that audiences abroad really understand that and take it with them.
"Perhaps people read things into it and they see social criticism. People are very involved in the political reality because that's what people know."
'Ida,' 'Leviathan,' 'Force Majeure' on Oscar foreign-language shortlist
'Ida,' 'Leviathan,' 'Force Majeure' on Oscar foreign-language shortlist
Against the magnificent landscapes surrounding the northern village of Teriberka on the Barents Sea, the film was shot over 67 days in late 2013. A large production by the standards of Russian filmmaking, the film cost about $7.5 million. The unexpected twist: About 35% of the funding came from the Russian government.
"This is not a position of black and white logic, never," Rodnyansky said. "In a complicated country like Russia, with such a culture and such a politics, it's always unpredictable. You can't judge what's going to happen. So that's why we prefer just to achieve what we need."
Zvyagintsev, 50, comes from the Siberian town of Novosibirsk. While studying to be an actor, he saw the Al Pacino films "Bobby Deerfield" and "… And Justice for All" and was inspired to move to Moscow to dedicate himself fully to the craft in the early 1980s. After seeing Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura," he found a desire to be a director.
cComments
I'm amazed at this. "Bobby Deerfield" is one of the worst racing movies ever made and certainly the worst Formula 1 movie ever made. Footage from Niki Lauda's horrific, fiery crash at Nurburgring was used in the film.)
SWATSON830
AT 8:00 AM DECEMBER 31, 2014
ADD A COMMENTSEE ALL COMMENTS
1
He worked for a few years as a janitor and street cleaner, even sweeping the street in front of the home of actor Andrey Smirnov, who would later star in Zvyagintsev's 2011 film, "Elena." Zvyagintsev's feature directing debut, "The Return," won the top prize at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.
It was while shooting a short for the 2008 omnibus "New York, I Love You" that Zvyagintsev first heard the story of Marvin John Heemeyer, a Colorado man who in 2004 demolished buildings with a bulldozer before taking his own life, in part over a protracted zoning dispute.
Although Heemeyer's story was Zvyagintsev's initial inspiration — "It was like a finished script, I already had a vision of what to do," he said — he and co-writer Oleg Negin decided its conclusion didn't quite fit the Russian temperament.
"We decided that this kind of ending, this kind of rebellion against power, in Russia it was much more typical to have something about obedience and patience," Zvyagintsev said. "That's much more the Russian character. And it's much more tragic."
Without giving away some the film's astonishing twists — as Rodnyansky noted, the term "spoiler" translates in Russian as "spoiler" — in one sequence a drunken afternoon picnic-slash-shooting party goes very wrong. What starts as fun with target shooting at portraits of former Russian leaders soon becomes a melee of hurt feelings and sudden revelations.
"This kind of scene could have happened in real life in many places," Rodnyansky said of common folks taking potshots at their former leaders. "This is not something created in order to demonstrate a political agenda. This is much more about those people, who don't trust, who don't believe, who are very skeptical and cynical. And that's the standard of life."
Added Zvyagintsev, "Regardless, these are cheap shots. They don't get to the top, and the people don't believe they are capable of influencing the very top, so they do these kinds of things."
Said Rodnyansky: "They don't believe they are able to change the position of the stars in the sky."
Yet in some ways that seems to be exactly what the filmmakers behind "Leviathan" have done, making a film critical of Russia with partial state funding and then being selected by a committee of filmmakers to represent the country on one of the world's most prestigious stages, the Academy Awards.
All this even as the current minister of culture, Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted this year as saying he did not like the movie.
"Basically, this is very much about Russia," Rodnyansky said. "This is pretty much considered a critical movie, but it's from an extremely important director, who has never done anything political or controversial, and on the other side, we have government support. So it happens.
"By the same logic, we were fighting and we never surrendered. It's always in Russia, you can say, 'That's bad,' and make it worse, or you can try to do what you need or do what you believe is important to do."
The film is scheduled to open in Russia in February, with minimal allowances for a recent law banning profanity in the arts. As to how he feels about this film being the Russian Oscar submission, Zvyagintsev straightened himself and allowed a small smile.
"It's a pleasant surprise."
Twitter: @IndieFocus
Marvin Heemeyer
"Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."
Marvin Heemeyer was a professional welder living in the quiet Colorado town of Granby, just trying to make a living for himself running a small muffler repair shop. Unfortunately, he was also in the business of getting royally fucked over by everyone in town, ranging from the paperboy to the asshats in City Hall who wouldn't compromise with him on some crazy fucking wacky zoning issues he was trying to work out. Eventually, after years of petitions, appeals and negotiations that proved about as fruitful as smashing his face into a cinderblock, the bastards at the Granby Zoning Commission basically told Marv that he could go fuck himself gently with a chainsaw. They were going to build a concrete plant adjacent to Heemeyer's muffler shop, cut off his business' sewer line, slap him with a bunch of increasingly-massive fines, and ultimately run his ass out of town on a fucking rail.
But Marvin Heemeyer wasn't the sort of mewling pussy coward who was going to sit there and let a bunch of stuffed-suit bastards fuck him over like a little bitch. He was an insane badass motherfucker with an arc welder and a mad desire for vengeance at all costs, and he decided he wasn't going to take it anymore. Heemeyer paid his $2,500 fine to City Hall, scribbling the word "cowards" in the memo portion of the check. Then he bought a massive bulldozer, sold his business, and spent the next year and a half turning this gigantic piece of construction equipment into the most insanely fucking awesome vehicle ever constructed by human hands: The KILLDOZER.
The Killdozer was every bit as badass as its name would imply. First, Heemeyer constructed composite armor for the outside of the Caterpillar - one foot of solid concrete sandwiched between half-inch sheets of unforgiving steel. Since the entire outside of the dozer was encased in an unflinching layer of bazooka-proof armor, he also welded two cameras to the outside of the machine and linked them up to a series of monitors in the cabin. This juryrigged system allowed him to remotely see outside and steer this juggernaut effectively. He placed food, water, air conditioning and life support in the cabin, and also installed gun ports in the front, sides and back of the monstrosity - one with a .50 caliber Barrett M82 sniper rifle, one with a .223 caliber assault rifle, and one with a scoped .308 caliber rifle. He also kept a 9mm pistol in the glove box and a .357 revolver in a holster on his belt. The weapons were all welded into place, and thick sheets of balls-out bulletproof plexiglass were in place to facilitate accurate aiming. Basically this thing was like a badass fucking combination of a Panther tank, a garbage truck, the antagonist from Maximum Overdrive and Optimus Prime in truck mode.
Despite having enough guns and ammunition to choke a dozen hippies, Marvin Heemeyer's mission wasn't one of death. He wanted revenge, sure, and he was going to go about it in the most over-the-top way imaginable, but he gets bonus badassitude points because he wasn't going to kill any innocent bystanders in his pursuit of sweet sweet vengeance. He was, however, going to royally fuck up the town of Granby, Colorado in a manner that the residents wouldn't soon forget. On the morning of 4 June 2004, the KILLDOZER rolled out from its dark lair and began smashing buildings at full-speed like a giant mechanical wrecking ball made out of nuclear missiles and HGH. Heemeyer's hitlist was basically anybody who had ever fucked him over - thirteen buildings ranging from Town Hall to the offices of a newspaper that railed against him were eviscerated by this giant monstrous hulk of self-propelled metal death. Heemeyer fired the built-in rifles at propane tanks and power transformers, trying to get them to explode into some badass Hollywood fireballs and level entire city blocks, but unfortunately there weren't any massive raging infernos to be had on this day. According to eyewitnesses, Heemeyer went out of his way to avoid injuring innocent bystanders, but did manage to cause over $7 million in damages to the city during his insane badass rampage. He crushed squad cars, steamrolled trees and obliterated entire buildings. At one point, the police put a gigantic piece of construction equipment out to block Heemeyer's path, but the Killdozer just fucking made that shit its bitch, tossing it aside and nearly flipping it on its back like a cheap hooker in the process.
The Killdozer was immune to all forms of small-arms fire, and was highly resistant to explosives. The local police and the Denver SWAT Team fired about 200 rounds of rifle and handgun ammunition at this thing, but all of the bullets harmlessly bounced off of the Killdozer's impenetrable metal hide. Flashbangs and frag grenades were chucked at this thing to no effect. Eventually, the machine dropped a tread into the basement of a building it was demolishing and became hopelessly stuck. His rampage effectively over, Heemeyer didn't want to give his enemies the satisfaction of capturing him alive, so he capped himself in the dome with the .357. He was the only person killed or wounded during the attack.
It took the cops twelve hours to cut through the armor of the Killdozer and retrieve Heemeyer's body. As if that wasn't badass enough, there are rumors that at the time Marv popped himself in the head the National Guard was only minutes away from calling in a fucking airstrike on this thing.
Some people would question the badassitude of turning a bulldozer into a tank and then using it to completely demolish an entire city, but deep down I think that everyone has to respect the fact that Marvin Heemeyer wasn't going to put up with any more bullshit from anyone. He had been jerked around enough, and he was fucking going to do something about it. Sure, his quest for revenge was a little misguided, but it was also completely fucking awesome, and he made a hell of a fucking statement without hurting anybody but himself. In the end, the desire to "go that extra mile" in the pursuit of vengeance is one of the fundamental tenants of ultimate badassitude, and Marvin Heemeyer walks a fine line between being a fucking nutcase and living the American dream of crushing your enemies beneath the treads of your badass fucking awesome home-made tank.
Killdozer Helicopter News Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbG9i1oGPA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xR_p2ryskA
Municipal Law
Businesses and individuals face a variety of municipal law problems. We represent local municipalities, businesses, and individuals involved in municipal law disputes throughout Virginia.
Briglia Hundley Municipal LawFrom zoning issues to disputes over eminent domain, we protect our clients’ rights and help them reach a fair solution. Whether your request for licenses and permits has been denied or you have a land dispute with your town, it is important to determine your options and protect your rights.
Having served as city and town attorneys for several municipalities in northern Virginia, our attorneys have the first-hand experience that enables our firm to approach municipal law issues with efficiency and knowledge. We know the obligations and responsibilities of municipalities in dealing with their citizens, and we know your rights and remedies when you find yourself in a dispute with your local government.
Our attorneys are prepared to handle your municipal law concerns, including:
Zoning Disputes
Eminent Domain Takings
Denied Variance Requests
Property Tax Issues
Improper Code Enforcement
Unconstitutional Ordinances
The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.[9] Zvyagintsev and Negin won the award for Best Screenplay.[10] It won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.[11] It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for 2014 which was won by the film Ida from Poland.
Marvin Heemeyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marvin Heemeyer
Marvin Heemeyer.jpg
Marvin John Heemeyer
Born October 28, 1951
Died June 4, 2004 (aged 52)
Granby, Colorado, U.S.
Cause of death
Self-inflicted gunshot
Known for Killdozer rampage
Marvin John Heemeyer (October 28, 1951 – June 4, 2004) was a welder and an automobile muffler repair shop owner most known for his rampage with a modified bulldozer. Outraged over the outcome of a zoning dispute, he armored a Komatsu D355A bulldozer with layers of steel and concrete and used it on June 4, 2004, to demolish the town hall, the former mayor's house, and other buildings in Granby, Colorado. The rampage ended when the bulldozer got stuck in the basement of a Gambles store he had previously destroyed. Heemeyer then killed himself with a handgun.
Heemeyer had been feuding with Granby officials, particularly over fines for violating city ordinances and a zoning dispute regarding a concrete factory constructed opposite his muffler shop.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Zoning dispute
3 Bulldozer modification
4 Rampage
4.1 Fate of the bulldozer
5 Motivation
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
§Background[edit]
Heemeyer lived in Grand Lake, Colorado, about 16 miles (26 km) away from Granby.[2] According to a neighbor, Heemeyer moved to town over 10 years prior to the incident. Heemeyer's friends stated that he had no relatives in the Granby-Grand Lake area.[3]
John Bauldree, a friend of Heemeyer, said that Heemeyer was an enjoyable person. Ken Heemeyer said his brother "would bend over backwards for anyone". While many people described Heemeyer as a likable person, others told a different story. Christie Baker said that Heemeyer threatened her husband after he refused to pay for a faulty muffler repair.[4] Baker said her husband later paid Heemeyer $124 via an intermediary.[4]
§Zoning dispute[edit]
In 1992, Heemeyer bought 2 acres (8,100 m2) of land from the Resolution Trust Corporation, the federal agency organized to handle the assets of failed savings and loan institutions. He bought the land for $42,000 to build a muffler shop and subsequently agreed to sell the land to a concrete company owned by the Docheff family to build a concrete batch plant. The agreed price was $250,000 but according to Susan Docheff, Heemeyer changed his mind and increased the price to $375,000 and later demanded a deal worth approximately $1 million. Some believe this negotiation happened before the rezoning proposal was heard by the town council.[5]
In 2001, the zoning commission and the town's trustees approved the construction of a cement manufacturing plant. Heemeyer appealed the decisions unsuccessfully. For many years, Heemeyer had used the adjacent property as a way to get to his muffler shop. The plan for the cement plant blocked that access. In addition to the frustration engendered by this dispute over access, Heemeyer was fined $2,500 by the Granby government for various violations, including "junk cars on the property and not being hooked up to the sewer line".
As a last measure, Heemeyer petitioned the city with his neighbors and friends, but to no avail. He could not function without the sewer line and the cooperation of the town.[6]
§Bulldozer modification[edit]
Heemeyer leased his business to a trash company and sold the property several months prior to the rampage.
Heemeyer had bought a bulldozer two years before the incident with the intention of using it to build an alternative route to his muffler shop, but city officials rejected his request to build the road.
Notes found by investigators after the rampage indicate that the primary motivation for Heemeyer's bulldozer rampage was his fight to stop a concrete plant from being built near his shop. The notes indicated Heemeyer held grudges over the zoning approval. "I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable", Heemeyer wrote. "Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."[7]
Heemeyer took about a year and a half to prepare for his rampage. In notes found by investigators after the incident, Heemeyer wrote: "It's interesting how I never got caught. This was a part-time project over a 1½ year time period." Heemeyer was surprised that several men who had visited the shed late the previous year did not discover the modified bulldozer, "especially with the 2000-pound lift fully exposed". "Somehow their vision was clouded", he wrote.[7]
The machine used in the incident was a Komatsu D355A bulldozer[8] fitted with makeshift armor plating covering the cabin, engine and parts of the tracks. In places, the vehicle's armor was over 1 foot (30 cm) thick, consisting of 5000-psi Quikrete concrete mix sandwiched between sheets of tool steel (acquired from an automotive dealer in Denver) to make ad-hoc composite armor. This made the machine impervious to small arms fire and resistant to explosives; three external explosions and over 200 rounds of firearm ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it.[1]
For visibility, the bulldozer was fitted with several video cameras linked to two monitors mounted on the vehicle's dashboard. The cameras were protected on the outside by 3 inches (76 mm) shields of bullet-resistant plastic.[1] Onboard fans and an air conditioner were used to keep Heemeyer cool while driving and compressed air nozzles were fitted to blow dust away from the video cameras. He made three gun ports, fitted for a .50 caliber sniper rifle, a .308 semi automatic, and a .22 long rifle, all fitted with a half inch thick steel plate. Heemeyer apparently had no intention of leaving the cabin once he entered.[1] Authorities speculated Heemeyer may have used a homemade crane found in his garage to lower the armor hull over the dozer and himself. "Once he tipped that lid shut, he knew he wasn't getting out", Daly said. Investigators searched the garage where they believe Heemeyer built the vehicle and found cement, armor and steel.[1]
Afterwards, the modified bulldozer came to be known as "Killdozer", although only Heemeyer was killed in the incident.[9]
§Rampage[edit]
Heemeyer used an armor-plated Komatsu D355A bulldozer to destroy 13 buildings in Granby, Colorado.
On June 4, 2004, Heemeyer drove his armored bulldozer through the wall of his former business, the concrete plant, the Town Hall, the office of the local newspaper that editorialized against him, the home of a former judge's widow, and a hardware store owned by another man Heemeyer named in a lawsuit, as well as others. Owners of all the buildings that were damaged had some connection to Heemeyer's disputes.[10]
The rampage lasted 2 hours 7 minutes, destroying 13 buildings,[8] knocking out natural gas service to City Hall and the cement plant, and damaging a truck and part of a utility service center.[11] Despite the great damage to property, no one besides Heemeyer was killed.[1] The cost of the damage was estimated at 7 million US dollars.[12][13]
According to Grand County commissioner James Newberry, Grand County emergency dispatchers used the reverse 911 emergency system to notify many residents and property owners of the rampage going on in the town.[3] Thus, many people were warned and were able to get out of harm's way.[citation needed]
Defenders of Heemeyer contended that he made a point of not hurting anybody during his bulldozer rampage;[1] Ian Daugherty, a bakery owner, said Heemeyer "went out of his way" not to harm anyone. Others offered different views. The sheriff's department argues that the fact that no one was injured was not due to good intent as much as it must have been due to luck. Heemeyer had installed two rifles in firing ports on the inside of the bulldozer,[14] and fired 15 bullets from his rifle at power transformers and propane tanks. "Had these tanks ruptured and exploded, anyone within one-half mile (800 m) of the explosion could have been endangered", the sheriff's department said; within such a range were 12 police officers and residents of a senior citizens complex.[5] The sheriff's department also asserted Heemeyer fired many bullets from his semi-automatic rifle at Cody Docheff when Docheff tried to stop the assault on his concrete batch plant by using a scraper. Later, Heemeyer fired on two state troopers before they had fired at him.[5] The sheriff's department also notes that 11 of the 13 buildings Heemeyer bulldozed were occupied until moments before their destruction. At the town library, for example, a children's program was in progress when the incident began.[5] There might have been casualties if local emergency response hadn't worked so effectively.[2]
One officer dropped a flash-bang grenade down the bulldozer's exhaust pipe, with no immediate apparent effect. Local and state police, including a SWAT team, walked behind and beside the bulldozer occasionally firing, but the armored bulldozer was impervious to their shots. Attempts to disable the bulldozer's cameras with gunfire failed as the bullets were unable to penetrate the 3-inch bullet-resistant plastic. At one point during the rampage, Undersheriff Glenn Trainor managed to climb atop the bulldozer and rode the bulldozer "like a bronc-buster, trying to figure out a way to get a bullet inside the dragon".[2] However, he was eventually forced to jump off to avoid being hit with debris.[2] Further attempts to mount the bulldozer were hampered due to oil that Heemeyer had spread on the vehicle to hinder such attempts.[citation needed]
Two problems arose as Heemeyer destroyed the Gambles hardware store. The radiator of the dozer had been damaged and the engine was leaking various fluids, and Gambles had a small basement. The bulldozer's engine failed and Heemeyer dropped one tread into the basement and couldn't get out. The bulldozer became stuck. At this time the mayor was actually considering bringing in the United States Air Force with their Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as "Warthogs", to fire an anti-tank missile at the dozer, something unprecedented at the time. About a minute later, one of the SWAT team members who had swarmed around the machine reported hearing a single gunshot from inside the sealed cab. Heemeyer had shot himself.[1] The coroner stated that Heemeyer used his .357-caliber handgun in the suicide.[citation needed]
Heemeyer's body was removed by police. It took them twelve hours to cut through the hatch with an oxyacetylene cutting torch.[citation needed]
§Fate of the bulldozer[edit]
On April 19, 2005, it was announced that Heemeyer's bulldozer was being taken apart for scrap metal.[8] It was planned that individual pieces would be dispersed to many separate scrap yards to prevent admirers of Heemeyer from taking souvenirs.[8]
§Motivation[edit]
In addition to writings that he left on the wall of his shed, Heemeyer recorded a number of audio tapes explaining his motivation for the attack. He mailed these to his brother in South Dakota shortly before stepping into his bulldozer. Heemeyer's brother turned the tapes over to the FBI, who in turn sent them to the Grand County Sheriff's Department. The tapes were released by the Grand County Sheriff's Office on August 31, 2004. The tapes are about two and a half hours in length.[15]
The first recording was made on April 13, 2004. The last recording was made 13 days before the rampage.
"God built me for this job", Heemeyer said in the first recording. He also said it was God's plan that he not be married or have a family so that he could be in a position to carry out such an attack. "I think God will bless me to get the machine done, to drive it, to do the stuff that I have to do", he said. "God blessed me in advance for the task that I am about to undertake. It is my duty. God has asked me to do this. It's a cross that I am going to carry and I'm carrying it in God's name."[16]
Investigators later found Heemeyer's handwritten list of targets. According to the police, it included the buildings he destroyed, the local Catholic Church (which he didn't damage), and the names of various people who had sided against him in past disputes.[17]
§See also[edit]
Jerusalem bulldozer attack of 2008
Shawn Nelson, who went on a rampage in San Diego with an M60 Patton main battle tank stolen from a California National Guard armory in 1995.
This event on Heemeyer's rampage was also shown on the History Channel as part of the series Shockwave. The episode aired on July 8, 2008.
Russia's Golden Globe-winning film Leviathan was inspired by the story of Heemeyer.[18]
Filmmakers see a bigger message in Russia's 'Leviathan'
By MARK OLSEN contact the reporter Movies Entertainment Russia Europe Film Festivals Literature Leviathan (movie)
The filmmakers behind Russia's Academy Awards entry, 'Leviathan,' say their message is bigger than politics
The Russian film "Leviathan" is the story of a man fighting to save his home, his livelihood, his family, his dignity and his life, building a sweep and scope that is at once personal and epic.
Its dense combination of inspirations may include the biblical Book of Job, Heinrich von Kleist's medieval-set novella "Michael Kohlhaas," Thomas Hobbes' treatise "Leviathan" and the true story of a Colorado man who went on a rampage in 2004 with a bulldozer, but the film manages, nevertheless, to have the deep, expansive feel of a classic Russian novel.
Trailer: 'Leviathan'
Check out the trailer for the Russia's "Leviathan."
Co-written and directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, the film won the screenplay prize when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Spirit Award and has made numerous critics' top 10 lists. And in a surprise to many, though the office of the film's venally corrupt small-town mayor prominently features a portrait of Vladimir Putin, Russia entered it as that country's submission for the Academy Award for best foreign language film. "Leviathan" recently made the academy's shortlist of nine films now vying for the final five nominations.
Kolya (Alexey Serebryakov) is a mechanic and repairman in a small fishing village in northern Russia. He lives and works on land that has long been in his family, along with his wife, Lilya (Elena Lyadova), and son by a previous marriage. The town's mayor (Roman Madyanov) wants the land for himself and will do anything to get it. Kolya's old friend Dmitri (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), now a lawyer in Moscow, comes to help with the legal proceedings, armed with damning evidence against the mayor. The situation escalates from there.
lRelated Oscar foreign language submissions set a record -- again
GOLD STANDARD
Oscar foreign language submissions set a record -- again
SEE ALL RELATED
8
"You can say that it's a tragedy of human destiny," Zvyagintsev said during a recent interview in Los Angeles sitting with his producer, Alexander Rodnyansky, and a translator. At times Rodnyansky would take over translating for Zvyagintsev, perhaps because he had a good idea what the filmmaker wanted to say, and then roll into speaking for himself.
Ever since its Cannes premiere, Zvyagintsev has seemed guarded in what he says regarding any implied criticism of the current Russian government and its policies. For him, the film is simply bigger than that.
"Perhaps there is a social criticism; however, it's secondary," he said, noting that he does not have a television and frequently learns about the news of the day from Rodnyansky. "It's more about the parallel to the Book of Job, and what really makes me happy is that audiences abroad really understand that and take it with them.
"Perhaps people read things into it and they see social criticism. People are very involved in the political reality because that's what people know."
'Ida,' 'Leviathan,' 'Force Majeure' on Oscar foreign-language shortlist
'Ida,' 'Leviathan,' 'Force Majeure' on Oscar foreign-language shortlist
Against the magnificent landscapes surrounding the northern village of Teriberka on the Barents Sea, the film was shot over 67 days in late 2013. A large production by the standards of Russian filmmaking, the film cost about $7.5 million. The unexpected twist: About 35% of the funding came from the Russian government.
"This is not a position of black and white logic, never," Rodnyansky said. "In a complicated country like Russia, with such a culture and such a politics, it's always unpredictable. You can't judge what's going to happen. So that's why we prefer just to achieve what we need."
Zvyagintsev, 50, comes from the Siberian town of Novosibirsk. While studying to be an actor, he saw the Al Pacino films "Bobby Deerfield" and "… And Justice for All" and was inspired to move to Moscow to dedicate himself fully to the craft in the early 1980s. After seeing Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura," he found a desire to be a director.
cComments
I'm amazed at this. "Bobby Deerfield" is one of the worst racing movies ever made and certainly the worst Formula 1 movie ever made. Footage from Niki Lauda's horrific, fiery crash at Nurburgring was used in the film.)
SWATSON830
AT 8:00 AM DECEMBER 31, 2014
ADD A COMMENTSEE ALL COMMENTS
1
He worked for a few years as a janitor and street cleaner, even sweeping the street in front of the home of actor Andrey Smirnov, who would later star in Zvyagintsev's 2011 film, "Elena." Zvyagintsev's feature directing debut, "The Return," won the top prize at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.
It was while shooting a short for the 2008 omnibus "New York, I Love You" that Zvyagintsev first heard the story of Marvin John Heemeyer, a Colorado man who in 2004 demolished buildings with a bulldozer before taking his own life, in part over a protracted zoning dispute.
Although Heemeyer's story was Zvyagintsev's initial inspiration — "It was like a finished script, I already had a vision of what to do," he said — he and co-writer Oleg Negin decided its conclusion didn't quite fit the Russian temperament.
"We decided that this kind of ending, this kind of rebellion against power, in Russia it was much more typical to have something about obedience and patience," Zvyagintsev said. "That's much more the Russian character. And it's much more tragic."
Without giving away some the film's astonishing twists — as Rodnyansky noted, the term "spoiler" translates in Russian as "spoiler" — in one sequence a drunken afternoon picnic-slash-shooting party goes very wrong. What starts as fun with target shooting at portraits of former Russian leaders soon becomes a melee of hurt feelings and sudden revelations.
"This kind of scene could have happened in real life in many places," Rodnyansky said of common folks taking potshots at their former leaders. "This is not something created in order to demonstrate a political agenda. This is much more about those people, who don't trust, who don't believe, who are very skeptical and cynical. And that's the standard of life."
Added Zvyagintsev, "Regardless, these are cheap shots. They don't get to the top, and the people don't believe they are capable of influencing the very top, so they do these kinds of things."
Said Rodnyansky: "They don't believe they are able to change the position of the stars in the sky."
Yet in some ways that seems to be exactly what the filmmakers behind "Leviathan" have done, making a film critical of Russia with partial state funding and then being selected by a committee of filmmakers to represent the country on one of the world's most prestigious stages, the Academy Awards.
All this even as the current minister of culture, Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted this year as saying he did not like the movie.
"Basically, this is very much about Russia," Rodnyansky said. "This is pretty much considered a critical movie, but it's from an extremely important director, who has never done anything political or controversial, and on the other side, we have government support. So it happens.
"By the same logic, we were fighting and we never surrendered. It's always in Russia, you can say, 'That's bad,' and make it worse, or you can try to do what you need or do what you believe is important to do."
The film is scheduled to open in Russia in February, with minimal allowances for a recent law banning profanity in the arts. As to how he feels about this film being the Russian Oscar submission, Zvyagintsev straightened himself and allowed a small smile.
"It's a pleasant surprise."
Twitter: @IndieFocus
Marvin Heemeyer
"Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things."
Marvin Heemeyer was a professional welder living in the quiet Colorado town of Granby, just trying to make a living for himself running a small muffler repair shop. Unfortunately, he was also in the business of getting royally fucked over by everyone in town, ranging from the paperboy to the asshats in City Hall who wouldn't compromise with him on some crazy fucking wacky zoning issues he was trying to work out. Eventually, after years of petitions, appeals and negotiations that proved about as fruitful as smashing his face into a cinderblock, the bastards at the Granby Zoning Commission basically told Marv that he could go fuck himself gently with a chainsaw. They were going to build a concrete plant adjacent to Heemeyer's muffler shop, cut off his business' sewer line, slap him with a bunch of increasingly-massive fines, and ultimately run his ass out of town on a fucking rail.
But Marvin Heemeyer wasn't the sort of mewling pussy coward who was going to sit there and let a bunch of stuffed-suit bastards fuck him over like a little bitch. He was an insane badass motherfucker with an arc welder and a mad desire for vengeance at all costs, and he decided he wasn't going to take it anymore. Heemeyer paid his $2,500 fine to City Hall, scribbling the word "cowards" in the memo portion of the check. Then he bought a massive bulldozer, sold his business, and spent the next year and a half turning this gigantic piece of construction equipment into the most insanely fucking awesome vehicle ever constructed by human hands: The KILLDOZER.
The Killdozer was every bit as badass as its name would imply. First, Heemeyer constructed composite armor for the outside of the Caterpillar - one foot of solid concrete sandwiched between half-inch sheets of unforgiving steel. Since the entire outside of the dozer was encased in an unflinching layer of bazooka-proof armor, he also welded two cameras to the outside of the machine and linked them up to a series of monitors in the cabin. This juryrigged system allowed him to remotely see outside and steer this juggernaut effectively. He placed food, water, air conditioning and life support in the cabin, and also installed gun ports in the front, sides and back of the monstrosity - one with a .50 caliber Barrett M82 sniper rifle, one with a .223 caliber assault rifle, and one with a scoped .308 caliber rifle. He also kept a 9mm pistol in the glove box and a .357 revolver in a holster on his belt. The weapons were all welded into place, and thick sheets of balls-out bulletproof plexiglass were in place to facilitate accurate aiming. Basically this thing was like a badass fucking combination of a Panther tank, a garbage truck, the antagonist from Maximum Overdrive and Optimus Prime in truck mode.
Despite having enough guns and ammunition to choke a dozen hippies, Marvin Heemeyer's mission wasn't one of death. He wanted revenge, sure, and he was going to go about it in the most over-the-top way imaginable, but he gets bonus badassitude points because he wasn't going to kill any innocent bystanders in his pursuit of sweet sweet vengeance. He was, however, going to royally fuck up the town of Granby, Colorado in a manner that the residents wouldn't soon forget. On the morning of 4 June 2004, the KILLDOZER rolled out from its dark lair and began smashing buildings at full-speed like a giant mechanical wrecking ball made out of nuclear missiles and HGH. Heemeyer's hitlist was basically anybody who had ever fucked him over - thirteen buildings ranging from Town Hall to the offices of a newspaper that railed against him were eviscerated by this giant monstrous hulk of self-propelled metal death. Heemeyer fired the built-in rifles at propane tanks and power transformers, trying to get them to explode into some badass Hollywood fireballs and level entire city blocks, but unfortunately there weren't any massive raging infernos to be had on this day. According to eyewitnesses, Heemeyer went out of his way to avoid injuring innocent bystanders, but did manage to cause over $7 million in damages to the city during his insane badass rampage. He crushed squad cars, steamrolled trees and obliterated entire buildings. At one point, the police put a gigantic piece of construction equipment out to block Heemeyer's path, but the Killdozer just fucking made that shit its bitch, tossing it aside and nearly flipping it on its back like a cheap hooker in the process.
The Killdozer was immune to all forms of small-arms fire, and was highly resistant to explosives. The local police and the Denver SWAT Team fired about 200 rounds of rifle and handgun ammunition at this thing, but all of the bullets harmlessly bounced off of the Killdozer's impenetrable metal hide. Flashbangs and frag grenades were chucked at this thing to no effect. Eventually, the machine dropped a tread into the basement of a building it was demolishing and became hopelessly stuck. His rampage effectively over, Heemeyer didn't want to give his enemies the satisfaction of capturing him alive, so he capped himself in the dome with the .357. He was the only person killed or wounded during the attack.
It took the cops twelve hours to cut through the armor of the Killdozer and retrieve Heemeyer's body. As if that wasn't badass enough, there are rumors that at the time Marv popped himself in the head the National Guard was only minutes away from calling in a fucking airstrike on this thing.
Some people would question the badassitude of turning a bulldozer into a tank and then using it to completely demolish an entire city, but deep down I think that everyone has to respect the fact that Marvin Heemeyer wasn't going to put up with any more bullshit from anyone. He had been jerked around enough, and he was fucking going to do something about it. Sure, his quest for revenge was a little misguided, but it was also completely fucking awesome, and he made a hell of a fucking statement without hurting anybody but himself. In the end, the desire to "go that extra mile" in the pursuit of vengeance is one of the fundamental tenants of ultimate badassitude, and Marvin Heemeyer walks a fine line between being a fucking nutcase and living the American dream of crushing your enemies beneath the treads of your badass fucking awesome home-made tank.
Killdozer Helicopter News Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbG9i1oGPA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xR_p2ryskA
Municipal Law
Businesses and individuals face a variety of municipal law problems. We represent local municipalities, businesses, and individuals involved in municipal law disputes throughout Virginia.
Briglia Hundley Municipal LawFrom zoning issues to disputes over eminent domain, we protect our clients’ rights and help them reach a fair solution. Whether your request for licenses and permits has been denied or you have a land dispute with your town, it is important to determine your options and protect your rights.
Having served as city and town attorneys for several municipalities in northern Virginia, our attorneys have the first-hand experience that enables our firm to approach municipal law issues with efficiency and knowledge. We know the obligations and responsibilities of municipalities in dealing with their citizens, and we know your rights and remedies when you find yourself in a dispute with your local government.
Our attorneys are prepared to handle your municipal law concerns, including:
Zoning Disputes
Eminent Domain Takings
Denied Variance Requests
Property Tax Issues
Improper Code Enforcement
Unconstitutional Ordinances
No comments:
Post a Comment