This kind of stuff has been going on for years. AFAIR, some years ago a pilot into Vegas was temporarily blinded.
The difference is that these devices have become more powerful as well as cheaper.
What has not changed is that no one in public seems to have the slightest idea what one can do about it. I suspect the military might have an idea, since they have been thinking about laser weaponry and defence for some decades now. However, it is not clear that they or their political masters would want to put effective defence measures in the public domain for use in the occasional civilian incident.
PBL