The Trump administration warned on Thursday that shining lasers at aircraft could result in up to 20 years in prison, one day after an anarchist website announced plans for a mass attack on federal helicopters.
The FBI’s Portland, Oregon, office laid out the potential penalties in an X post, indirectly responding to a leftist blog post first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation that encouraged Portlanders to fill the skies with lasers aimed at law enforcement helicopters on Saturday. Those who use the tactic could be charged with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft or even destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, which can bring up to five and 20 years behind bars, respectively, the FBI noted.
“This is incredibly dangerous for the aircraft personnel and for the public’s safety,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Thursday X post with a screenshot of the blog. “Antifa domestic terrorists WILL NOT overrun our cities. We will bust their networks and bring every one of them to justice.”
The blog site, “Rose City Counter-Info,” did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Federal prosecutors charged a man in Portland with allegedly shining a laser at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter mid-flight in September. Such a tactic can impair pilots’ vision and make it unsafe to fly, an FBI agent warned in court documents for the case.
However, that appears to be the goal, according to Rose City Counter-Info’s Wednesday post.
“If enough lasers are pointed at the aircraft, we think it will not be able to safely stay in the air for long enough to continue to pinpoint the source for law enforcement, and numbers will make it difficult to focus on a single person,” says the anonymously-written call to action. “Be ready to dispose of the laser if you need to — wear gloves and clean it with alcohol in case you have to toss it in a hurry. Consider taking precautions to keep DNA off of it as well.”
“It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!” the post reads.
Rose City Counter-Info is also one of multiple “doxxing” websites revealing immigration agents’ names and home addresses in Oregon, the DHS said in July.
The announced Saturday attack would add to escalating threats against federal agents in amid months of violent protests and shootings in response to immigration enforcement in Portland and elsewhere.
A demonstration in Chicago, Illinois, last Saturday escalated to the point that individuals “rammed federal agents with their vehicles,” according to the DHS. “The scene became increasingly violent as more domestic terrorists gathered and began throwing smoke, gas, rocks, and bottles at DHS law enforcement,” the department said.
President Donald Trump aims to send National Guard troops to Chicago and Portland to address disorder and violence, but judges have temporarily blocked deployments to the liberal cities while legal challenges play out.
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