A man was charged by U.S. authorities after allegedly shining a laser pointer at the presidential helicopter as it took off from the White House—with President Donald Trump on board—according to a court filing on Monday, September 22nd.
The affidavit states that a Secret Service officer observed 33-year-old Jacob Samuel Winkler shine a red laser beam from the sidewalk outside the White House, aiming it at the Marine One helicopter as it took off on Saturday. Winkler was detained at the scene and charged with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft—a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The filing said Winkler’s
conduct posed a risk of flash blindness and pilot disorientation, especially during low-level flight near other helicopters … and the Washington Monument.
This placed Marine One at risk of an airborne collision.
After he was handcuffed, Winkler “got on his knees and started saying things like, ‘I should apologize to Donald Trump,’” the filing, signed by the Secret Service officer, showed.
Winkler later told authorities that “he did not know he could not point the laser at Marine One” and that “he points the laser at all kinds of things, such as stop signs.”
The filing did not indicate whether anyone aboard the helicopter noticed the laser. Trump had been traveling to Virginia to deliver a speech at the American Cornerstone Institute, according to U.S. media.
The Federal Aviation Administration warns that lasers pose a “serious safety threat” to aircraft and can incapacitate pilots. So far this year, the agency has recorded 5,913 laser incidents.
