Man charged with shining laser pointer at Trump’s Marine One helicopter
US authorities have charged a man for pointing a laser pointer at Marine One, the presidential helicopter, while it departed the White House with former President Donald Trump aboard. According to a court filing on Monday, Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, was spotted by a Secret Service officer shining a red laser beam from the sidewalk outside the White House grounds as Marine One lifted off on Saturday. Winkler was immediately detained and charged with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft — a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The affidavit noted that his actions posed a significant risk of flash blindness and pilot disorientation, particularly during low-altitude flight in the busy Washington, D.C. airspace near other helicopters and landmarks such as the Washington Monument. “This placed Marine One at risk of an airborne collision,” the […]