Man charged with shining laser at Trump’s Marine One helicopter
U.S. authorities have charged a man with pointing a laser at Marine One, the presidential helicopter, while it carried President Donald Trump, according to a court filing made public Monday.
A Secret Service officer said he saw Jacob Samuel Winkler, 33, shine a red laser beam from the sidewalk outside the White House grounds as Marine One lifted off on Saturday. Trump was traveling to Virginia to deliver a speech to the American Cornerstone Institute, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Winkler was immediately detained and charged with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to the affidavit, Winkler’s actions “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 being handcuffed, Winkler reportedly dropped to his knees and said: “I should apologize to Donald Trump.” He later told investigators he “did not know he could not point the laser at Marine One” and claimed he routinely used the device on objects like stop signs.
The filing did not state whether the helicopter’s crew or passengers noticed the laser.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warns that lasers can severely impair pilots’ vision and pose a “serious safety threat” to aircraft. The agency has documented nearly 6,000 laser incidents in 2025 alone.
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