A man accused of pointing a laser at Marine One, carrying President Trump, was found not guilty, marking another defeat for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. The acquittal underscores criticisms of Pirro's office for pursuing cases that are seen as a misuse of resources, particularly in the context of increased law enforcement presence in Washington D.C.
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A man who was charged with a felony for allegedly shining a laser beam at Marine One while it carried President Donald Trump was found not guilty by a Washington, D.C., jury in less than an hour on Tuesday. The acquittal of Jacob Winkler marks yet another embarrassing setback for Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who’s struggled to make an example out of people her office claims assaulted federal agents or threatened the president.shine the red beam at the low-flying helicopter shortly after it departed from the White House grounds. The felony charge for pointing a laser at an aircraft carries At the time, Pirro, a former Fox News personality, promised to prosecute Winkler “to the fullest extent of the law.”Advertisement After his trial wrapped earlier this week, the jury deliberated for just 35 minutes before finding Winkler not guilty, according to his public defenders, Alexis Gardner and Ubong Akpan. Gardner and Akpan told HuffPost in a statement that the verdict exposed “a disturbing reality: In the most powerful city in the world, the federal government spent scarce resources to make a felon out of a homeless man with nothing but a cat toy keychain.” “Every hour spent on this case was an hour not spent addressing real threats to our community,” they said. “We need to stop policing poverty and start investing in dignity.”The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the case on Friday. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announces a Scam Center Strike Force to go after crypto investment fraudsters who are targeting Americans to the tune of 10 billion a year, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in Washington. After Trump declared a crime emergency and deployed the National Guard in D.C. last summer, Pirro brought a slew of charges to federal court alleging residents assaulted federal agents or threatened Trump. At the time, officers from agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were swarming the city on neighborhood patrols.and make Pirro’s office look tough, but many of them quickly crumbled or resulted in acquittals after sucking up court resources and causing defendantsIn some cases, prosecutors even failed to clear the famously low bar of getting a grand jury to return an indictment. That includes a case in which Pirro’s office charged a D.C. man with threatening to kill Trump after he was arrested for damaging a light fixture outside a restaurant; affidavits suggested the man was” and served no purpose other than to boost numbers for Pirro’s office and make crime in D.C. look worse than it really is.from Subway. A grand jury declined to return a felony indictment in the case, so Pirro’s office pursued a misdemeanor assault charge against him. A D.C. jury found him not guilty as well.By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our
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