A Florida woman who was captured on video casually dousing Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth home in Atlanta, Georgia, 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.
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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.
“She seemed a little irritated and on edge,” Kempf told Fox 5.
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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…
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