© Atlanta Police DepartmentLaneisha Shantrice Henderson was arrested for attempted arson of Martin Luther King's childhood home, a national heritage site.
A Florida woman who was captured on video casually dousing Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home in Atlanta with gasoline before allegedly attempting to set it on fire has been identified and charged.
Laneisha Shantrice Henderson, 26, has been charged with attempted arson and interfering with government property after she was seen on camera pouring the flammable liquid out of a large red fuel container and onto the porch of the historic wooden property at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
The footage also shows the woman — who was dressed in all-black clothing — dousing plants and emptying the liquid against the windows of the Auburn Avenue house, which is located just blocks from the King Center, King National Historical Park and the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
She was stopped in her tracks by two tourists and then apprehended by two off-duty NYPD cops until Atlanta police arrived on the scene and arrested her.
The woman, who is understood to suffer from mental health issues, was transported to Grady Detention Center for evaluation before being transferred to Fulton County Jail, police said.
It is unclear why she intended to burn the building down. She could also face federal charges in connection with the incident, according to Fox 5.
Zachary Eugene Kempf, from Utah, who shot the shocking video and is one of the two tourists who stopped Henderson, said he was in Atlanta for work reasons when he decided to visit the house. He began recording this footage as he noticed the woman pouring gasoline around the house.
© StoryfulLaneisha Shantrice Henderson pours what appears to be gasoline into plants at the home of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home in Atlanta.
Kempf said that when Henderson came down the porch steps, he told her to stop, and he then blocked her repeated attempts to go back up.
"She was never violent or aggressive with me, but she kept trying to get past, and I kept blocking her," he told Storyful.
Kempf said Henderson never responded when he asked her what she was doing.
Henderson then threw the empty canister into the bushes and grabbed a lighter that she had left in the grass next to the porch, Kempf told The New York Times. He then called 911.
Kempf then yelled at two men down the street for help. They happened to be two off-duty NYPD officers, and they then apprehended Henderson until Atlanta Police officers arrived at the scene. The NYPD cops were in town to visit the landmark.
© StoryfulLaneisha Shantrice Henderson was arrested for attempting to set fire to Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home in Atlanta
Kempf said that Henderson's family also arrived on the scene and said they had been looking for her, according to the Times. Her relatives described her as a veteran who was experiencing mental distress.
Atlanta Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry DeBerry told reporters that, after the fuel was poured, the home could have caught fire in a matter of seconds. The fire department's HAZMAT team worked to clean up the gasoline on the property.
A Chevrolet sedan, believed to be the woman's car, was also seized by police.
The home is currently under renovation and closed to visitors until 2025.
King's birth home, a framed two-story Queen Anne-style structure, was built in 1895 and played a vital role in commemorating the early life of the civil rights leader and his siblings.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
Reader Comments
The young Indian boy had spent most of his life in a quandary... He felt different yet... couldn’t figure why... he was just so depressed.
He went to the Chief for answers... He asked the chief how his brother 'Red Deer Running' had gotten his name...The chief answered in his typically poetic way...
” When Red Deer Running was born, at the moment of his birth, the first thing his mother saw was a beautiful deer running off into the forest... and so Running Deer was named. It is the custom of our tribe to name the offspring according to the spirits in nature visiting upon the birth. ”
Then, the boy said to the Chief... And how did my sister “Thundering Bird” get her name? The chief described again, how at the moment of her birth Thundering Bird’s mother had heard a roar of thunder and looking up, saw a bird flying in the sky...
The boy asked again, how his cousin “White Crouching Bear” had been given such a name... And the chief, looking down once more at the boy, explaining the traditions of their tribe.... White Bear’s mother had seen a rare white bear crouched over a stream at the moment her baby’s birth.
Then he asked the boy...”Why do you ask, Two Dogs Fucking?”
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Don't speak ill of the dead.
Or the living dead.
Or whatever TF sort-of-life-form Kamala Harris is.
I mean, what the fuck is it?....[Link]