Trans US Military Helicopter Pilot Sues MAGA Influencer For Falsely Blaming Her For Fatal Crash Near DC Airport

The Hill reports:

A transgender military helicopter pilot sued a conservative social media influencer for alleged defamation on Wednesday, two months after she was falsely blamed for a deadly midair collision over the Potomac River in Washington. Jo Ellis, a pilot in the Virginia National Guard, filed the defamation suit against Matt Wallace, a cryptocurrency investor and influencer on the social platform X.

In January, Wallace falsely claimed on his X account, where he has 2.2 million followers, that Ellis had been operating the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet on Jan. 29. Far-right social media personalities and conservative provocateurs in recent years have been quick to claim, often without evidence, that transgender people are to blame for devastating acts of violence.

Read the full article. Shortly after Wallace’s first of several false claims, Ellis posted a “proof of life” video on Facebook to let followers know that she was not dead. Wallace is one of the most prolific spreaders of fake news and therefore, of course, he sometimes gets boosted by Elon Musk. His tweet below is from yesterday. Videos are from his YouTube page.