<!-- wp:html --><p>Paula Jones/Getty</p>
<p>Off-duty police officers and tourists on Thursday helped to stop a woman setting fire to the house where <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/martin-luther-king-jr">Martin Luther King Jr.</a> was born in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/atlanta">Atlanta</a> after she doused the property in gasoline, authorities said.</p>
<p>The 26-year-old woman was confronted by a pair of visitors from Utah as she poured fuel on the porch of the house, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. Two off-duty <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/nypd">New York City Police Department</a> officers who had been visiting the home then pursued the suspect and detained her until local law enforcement arrived, Schierbaum added.</p>
<p>“That action saved an important part of American history tonight,” the police chief said.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bystanders-stop-woman-torching-martin-luther-king-jrs-birth-home">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->
Off-duty police officers and tourists on Thursday helped to stop a woman setting fire to the house where Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta after she doused the property in gasoline, authorities said.
The 26-year-old woman was confronted by a pair of visitors from Utah as she poured fuel on the porch of the house, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. Two off-duty New York City Police Department officers who had been visiting the home then pursued the suspect and detained her until local law enforcement arrived, Schierbaum added.
“That action saved an important part of American history tonight,” the police chief said.
