The Justice Department has charged Jacob Samuel Winkler with a federal offence after he allegedly aimed a red laser pointer at Marine One while President Trump was aboard. According to a legal complaint filed on Monday, a U.S. Park Police officer, Santiago, was first hit in the eyes by the red beam, briefly disoriented, and then saw Winkler point the same laser skyward as the presidential helicopter passed at low altitude. The rotor noise was loud and the aircraft loomed large overhead; nearby were other helicopters and the Washington Monument. From his training, Officer Santiago recognised immediately that the action posed a serious hazard, creating a risk of flash blindness and pilot disorientation. Winkler was quickly handcuffed and, once on his knees, reportedly said, "I should apologise to Donald Trump," and then, "I apologise to Donald Trump." He is now charged under 18 U.S. Code § 39A, a law that makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft or its flight path.
At first glance a laser pointer seems a trivial, even toy-like gadget, more suited to classroom slides than to criminal indictments. Yet in the aviation context these small devices can be surprisingly dangerous. A laser's beam can cause glare that forces pilots to look away or struggle to read instruments. A direct hit on the eyes can produce flash blindness or lingering after-images, those dazzling spots of colour that temporarily blot out vision, at precisely the moment when a pilot may need sharp eyesight to judge altitude, navigate near other aircraft, or land. Even without permanent injury, a few seconds of disorientation in low-level flight can be critical.
Permanent eye damage is less common. Most consumer lasers lose intensity with distance, and the eye's blink reflex offers some protection. But high-power lasers, mislabelled imports, or longer exposures can burn the retina. The real aviation hazard, however, is not so much lasting injury as sudden distraction or disorientation. Helicopters like Marine One, often flying in tight formation or near landmarks such as the Washington Monument, have little margin for error; a startled or blinded pilot, even briefly, risks a dangerous drift or misjudged manoeuvre.
The problem is not rare. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration records thousands of laser incidents every year, a figure that has climbed steadily despite public-awareness campaigns. Lawmakers responded with criminal penalties precisely because even a momentary burst of light can threaten passengers and crew. In this sense, Winkler's alleged act fits a worrying pattern: small, cheap devices used in ways that put complex, high-stakes systems at risk.
Could such a simple tool be exploited deliberately by terrorists? The answer is nuanced. A single consumer laser is unlikely to bring down a modern aircraft. Distance, atmospheric scattering, and the design of cockpit windows all blunt its power. Pilots train for visual distractions, and aircraft have redundant systems and co-pilots. Yet in low-altitude or crowded airspace, especially if multiple lasers are coordinated or more powerful devices used, the potential for chaos grows. A beam of light cannot pierce metal, but it can pierce concentration, and that may be enough to set a larger chain of errors in motion.
The Winkler case is therefore less a curiosity than a warning. Light, usually our ally in safety and navigation, can become a subtle weapon. Whether deployed by pranksters, the reckless, or those with darker motives, a hand-held laser is capable of momentary but dangerous disruption. It is this potential for sudden blindness and disorientation, not Hollywood-style sci-fi destruction, that has drawn the attention of federal law and makes the aiming of a simple pointer at an aircraft a serious crime.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/09/doj-charges-man-trying-take-down-marine-one/