Rudolph Angler A transgender member of the National Guard is speaking out after false social media claims wrongly identified her as the pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet in Washington. The crash on Wednesday killed 67 people.
Jo Ellis, a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot for the Virginia Army National Guard, addressed the rumors on Facebook. She called them insulting to the victims and their families.
“Some craziness has happened on the internet, and I’m being named as one of the pilots of the DC crash,” Ellis wrote. She condemned the spread of misinformation and blamed bots and internet trolls for fueling the false claims.
Social Media Posts Spread Misinformation and Hate
Ellis shared screenshots of viral posts on X that falsely linked her gender identity to the catastrophic crash. One user speculated that the pilot was trans, while another falsely accused Ellis of making anti-Trump statements online.
The second account later deleted the post and issued an apology, but the damage was already done. A verified account with 13,600 followers also spread the false conspiracy theory, garnering 195,000 views and being reshared nearly 1,000 times before deletion.
By the time these accounts issued corrections, “Jo Ellis” was trending No. 3 on X, with 19,400 posts discussing her. Despite her video response debunking the false claims, far-right accounts continued to spread hate speech and misinformation about her.
Trump Blames DEI Policies Without Evidence
In a Thursday memo, Donald Trump linked the fatal crash to diversity initiatives, blaming the Obama administration for shifting hiring policies at the FAA.
Trump accused the Biden administration of rejecting merit-based hiring and claimed it prioritized DEI initiatives over competency in federal agencies. He provided no evidence for these assertions.
When a reporter pressed him during a press conference, Trump simply responded: “Because common sense, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.”
Attacks on DEI initiatives have become a core talking point of Trump’s MAGA movement. Figures like Elon Musk and right-wing politicians have also blamed DEI policies for wildfires, infrastructure failures, and national security threats, often without supporting evidence.