A man has been charged with allegedly pointing a laser at Marine One while President Trump was on board, according to an affidavit signed by Secret Service Officer Diego Santiago. The suspect, Jacob Samuel Winkler, is accused of first directing a red laser beam at Santiago before aiming it toward the president’s helicopter. He now faces a felony charge of aiming a laser at an aircraft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The affidavit was also signed by Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui of the D.C. District Court.
Santiago described observing Winkler shirtless and loudly talking to himself on the sidewalk along Constitution Avenue. After shining a flashlight on him, Santiago reported being disoriented by the laser beam before Winkler aimed it at Marine One. The helicopter had just departed the White House’s South Lawn at around 6 p.m. EDT as Trump traveled to a private dinner in Mount Vernon, Virginia.
The affidavit noted that Winkler’s actions risked “flash blindness and pilot disorientation,” especially concerning given the low-level flight near other helicopters and the Washington Monument. This, authorities said, placed Marine One at real risk of an airborne collision. Winkler was taken into custody shortly after the incident, where he reportedly apologized to Trump. During questioning, he admitted to using the laser and claimed he regularly points it at “all kinds of things, including stop signs.” Investigators also recovered a three-inch fixed-blade knife from him at the time of his arrest.