"And if you can see in the video, he is aiming the laser pointer at the direction of 16th Street, at the direction where the helicopter would be flying over; so at that time I had all of that knowledge in the moment. I knew the helicopter was flying over me. And I knew that - or over 16th Street, it's the same flight path every time, and because of how loud it was - because of his direction of the arm, the way he was pointing it, I felt in that moment he had shined the laser pointer at the helicopter."
"Q. We're back on your feelings again. So you never looked, did you? A. I did not look back to see the helicopter. Q. You never looked, did you? A. I did not look back to see the helicopter. Q. No. You said based on his behavior you knew he was pointing it at the helicopter? A. Um-hum. Q. But you don't have eyes in the back of your head, right? A. Unfortunately, no."
Jacob Winckler, an unhoused man, was charged in September with attempting to blind Marine Force One's pilots by shining a laser pointer at Secret Service Officer Diego Santiago, who had first shined his flashlight at Winckler. Winckler was acquitted after a one-day trial in January. During the trial, Public Defender Alexis Gardner effectively cross-examined Santiago, revealing critical inconsistencies in his testimony. Santiago admitted he never actually looked to verify where Winckler was aiming the laser pointer. Instead, he relied on assumptions about the helicopter's flight path, the direction of Winckler's arm movements, and his own intuition to conclude the laser was aimed at the aircraft. This admission undermined the prosecution's case by demonstrating Santiago's testimony was based on speculation rather than direct observation.
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