Overview

• The incident occurred Sept. 20 near the White House as Marine One departed for Mount Vernon, according to court filings.
• A Secret Service officer reported that Jacob Samuel Winkler first hit his eyes with a red laser after a flashlight check, then directed the beam at the helicopter overhead.
• Winkler, 33, is charged with aiming a laser at an aircraft, a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine.
• The affidavit says Winkler admitted pointing the beam and that investigators recovered a roughly three-inch fixed-blade knife; online records do not list an attorney for him.
• U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed full prosecution, and filings do not state whether anyone aboard noticed the beam as FAA data show thousands of laser strikes each year.