On Thursday afternoon, two tourists from Utah called police to report a black woman who was pouring gasoline on the porch of the Atlanta home where Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929.
The suspect, 26-year-old Laneisha Henderson, was arrested by Atlanta police and is being held in the Grady Detention Center for psychological evaluation.
Newsweek attempted to come up with a motive for the bizarre incident, noting that Henderson is from Brandon, Florida, and does not appear to have any political affiliations.
WSB-TV says they reached Henderson's father, who told them his daughter is a veteran who was going through a mental health episode and that her family had been looking for her the past two days.
The two Utah tourists, both men, were visiting the historic landmark when they saw Henderson pouring what they thought was water on the bushes. When she didn't respond, and they realized it was gasoline, they restrained her.
They saw no other option but to try to apprehend her, along with the help of other bystanders in the area, they tried to get her detained."
While trying to stop her, Henderson allegedly was trying to spark a lighter to ignite the gas on the property and bushes. Bystanders took the lighter away from her and waited for authorities to arrive. When Henderson was detained, she was wearing black socks and no shoes.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the tourists "saved an important part of American history tonight."
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
