Twenty years ago, a Komatsu bulldozer fortified with steel, concrete, bulletproof glass and guns burst out of a shed in downtown Granby. June 4, 2004, was a watershed moment for the community: The town’s violent destruction created a martyr whose actions traumatized residents and galvanized anti-government movements and keyboard warriors.

The bulldozer attack caused a building count instead of a body count, with the attacker’s suicide being the only death. However, as much as the perpetrator tried to destroy the town by mowing down the community’s spirit like the buildings he razed, he only achieved at making Granby stronger. Out of the destruction, a town was reborn, fortified by the resiliency of its people.

Thirteen buildings were destroyed that day. The town was painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick. Everything from community fundraisers to state emergency funds to good old-fashioned elbow grease paved the way to the town’s revitalization after the attack.