Inset: Jo Ellis (WTTG/YouTube). Background: The aftermath of the Jan. 29 aviation accident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, 2025 (WTTG/YouTube).
“My life turned upside down that morning,” says Iraq War veteran and U.S. Army chief warrant officer Jo Ellis about being allegedly identified by right-wing influencer Matt Wallace as the pilot who crashed a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter into an American Airlines passenger plane near Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
Ellis, a transgender woman and Army National Guard chief warrant officer, has filed a federal defamation lawsuit against Wallace in Colorado, where the social media personality apparently lives. Ellis says she was thrust into the social media spotlight by Wallace, who has over 2 million followers on X, after he linked her to the Black Hawk and American Airlines Flight 5342 incident that unfolded on Jan. 29.
Things got so bad, Ellis says, that she had to make a “proof of life” video to show she wasn’t involved.
“The original lie fabricated by Defendant was posted less than 24 hours after the mid-air collision, which Defendant was closely ‘reporting’ on his [social media] profiles,” Ellis’ complaint says.
“Defendant claimed his ‘brother’ @JackWallace888 learned that the helicopter pilot was a transgender, and he included a picture of Plaintiff on his X post,” the complaint alleges. “Once Defendant’s clickbait went viral on social media, Defendant deleted his initial post and published additional falsehoods about Plaintiff.”
