Trans Pilot Jo Ellis shares ‘Proof of Life’ video in the middle of fake claims, she flew the helicopter involved in DC Flying accident

More hours before the video, Ellis shared a screen shot on his Facebook account about An X -post In which someone had shared two pictures of her and made the false claim that she was the black Hawk pilot involved in the deadly crash.

Ellis did not immediately return a request for further comment.

A spokesman for Virginia National Guard confirmed that Ellis, a Chief Warrant Officer 2, is a current serving soldier and that there was no “not Virginia National Guard staff on board Black Hawk who collided with Jetliner on Wednesday night.”

At least two news sites, Santa Monica Observer, based in Santa Monica, California, and Express Tribune, based in Pakistan, reported on rumors where the observer reported as fact that Ellis was on board About the crash “was intentional.” From Friday afternoon the observer had Updated his article But Tribune hadn’t done it.

BROK, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by social media platform x, Reinforced incorrect information. X is owned by Elon Musk, who serves as the company’s chairman and Chief Technology Officer.

“A military helicopter accident involving a transgender pilot named Jo Ellis has given rise to significant discussion about X, especially after the incident, where the helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight, resulting in 66 deaths,” said Grok’s summary, If X users searched Ellis’ name, according to screens of several X users.

From Friday afternoon, you corrected her overview of Ellis. And if a user asks AI Chatbot who the Black Hawk pilots were involved in the deadly crash, the now correctly names two of the three involved.

X did not immediately respond to a request for a commentary on Follow AIS allegations of Ellis.

This week, Ellis wrote one up-ed about his life as a transgender service member and appearEd On the burning podcastWhere she said President Donald Trump’s executive order that prevents transgender people from earning and signing up for the military makes her nervous.

“I don’t really have to deal with all the headlines and everything going on about my service,” she said. “I want to keep my head down, earn, earn honestly and then eventually retire, maybe another 15, 20 years, or how long my body lets me fly that helicopter.”

She added, “In a time when it’s hard enough to accommodate recruitment numbers in the military, why would you, you, you know, kick more soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives for this country?”

Transgender people have increasingly been false accused of tragedies and violence in recent years, especially after a mass shooter. In March 2022, a trans woman who lives in Georgia said she was facing harassment and threats after her photo was shared online with false claims that she was the shooter who killed 19 children and two adults at a public school in UVALE, TEXAS. The shooter was killed on stage by police.

Similar false or unconfirmed claims spread after at least four shootings in the last two years – in Nashville, Tennessee; Philadelphia; Madison, Wisconsin; And Des Moines, Iowa – that the shooters’ were transient or LGBTQ, and that their identity had something to do with the crimes.

These online rumors of violence and tragedies have spiked along with an increasingly hostile state and federal regulatory climate for transritels. In the past few years dozens of states have adopted laws that Limit transitional -related care and School sports participation For trans youth and restrict access to toilets and Identity documents For transgender people of all ages.

In addition to his executive orders that prevent transporters from the military, Trump has signed executive orders to declare that the United States will only recognize two genders, male and female and end diversity, justice and inclusion programs in federal agencies. He too signed an order Directions agencies to ban federal funding for schools that promote “gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology” and another aimed at limiting access to transitional -related care of minor nationwide.

At a news conference on Thursday, Trump suggested that DEI programs could have caused the deadly crash over Potomac, though the investigation had only just begun.