A man accused of shining a laser pointer at presidential helicopter Marine One with President Trump aboard was arrested on federal charges Monday.
Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, of Washington, D.C., is charged with aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft, a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years. Online court records don’t list an attorney representing him.
Marine One was airborne on Saturday after departing the White House when a U.S. Secret Service patrol officer spotted Winkler walking on a sidewalk, shirtless and loudly talking to himself, the officer wrote in an affidavit. The officer said he shone a flashlight at Winkler, who allegedly retaliated by flashing a red laser beam at the officer’s face.
As Marine One flew over their heads, Winkler looked up and shined the laser pointer at the helicopter, according to the officer.
“This placed Marine One at risk of an airborne collision,” the Secret Service officer wrote.
After the officer handcuffed him, Winkler repeatedly said phrases like “I should apologize to Donald Trump,” the affidavit alleges.
Winkler allegedly told investigators that he points the laser “at all kinds of things, such as stop signs,” and didn’t know he couldn’t point it at Marine One, the affidavit says. Investigators also found a small knife in his possession, according to the officer.
“This behavior endangers Marine One and everyone on board,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the top prosecutor in D.C., said in a statement to The Associated Press. “If you engage in this act, you will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The court filing doesn’t say if anybody aboard the helicopter noticed the laser. But the officer said Winkler’s conduct could have temporarily blinded or disoriented a pilot, placing Marine One at risk of an airborne collision with other helicopters in the area.
The Federal Aviation Administration says lasers pose a “serious safety threat” to aircraft because they can incapacitate pilots. The agency has recorded 5,913 laser incidents so far this year — or about 28 per day — and 12,840 last year.
