A transgender military pilot has launched legal action against a conservative influencer who falsely identified her as the pilot involved in a deadly mid-air crash that killed 67 people in Washington, DC.
Jo Ellis, a transgender Black Hawk pilot with the Virginia National Guard, filed a defamation lawsuit against social media personality Matthew Wallace. Wallace is accused of falsely claiming Ellis was at the controls of the military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight over the Potomac River on 29 January.
The tragic collision involved a passenger flight from Kansas and a U.S. military helicopter carrying three people. All 67 individuals on board the two aircraft were killed.
In the aftermath, former President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies for the crash, suggesting these initiatives had resulted in a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Right-wing figures on social media quickly spread conspiracy theories linking Ellis to the crash, despite no official evidence. The lawsuit, filed by the Equality Legal Action Fund on Ellis’s behalf, describes Wallace’s actions as a “destructive and irresponsible defamation campaign” that profited from misinformation.
“The damage caused to plaintiff was instantaneous and immense,” the lawsuit reads. “Prior to the defendant’s campaign, the plaintiff was a private citizen who led a private life away from social media and the limelight.”
Ellis found herself trending on social platform X (formerly Twitter), with over 90,000 posts featuring her name or likeness. The lawsuit details how the sudden attention forced Ellis into the public eye and exposed her to widespread harassment.
“Ellis has received threats, including ‘credible death threats’, and hateful messages, many of them transphobic,” the filing continues. “Gaining infamy overnight caused the plaintiff and her family tremendous suffering.”
The case also notes that Ellis was “devastated” to have her name linked to the tragedy and feared it would compound the pain for the families of the victims. She reportedly had to hire private armed security for protection and said her life has fundamentally changed.
“I’m now recognised in public and forever associated with that terrible tragedy over the Potomac,” Ellis told NBC News. “When I go out in public I have to look over my shoulder.”
Although Wallace eventually tweeted to correct the misinformation after Ellis posted a video confirming she was alive, the lawsuit characterises these statements as insufficient, accusing him of “making excuses for creating viral lies,” according to The Guardian.
