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.”
Speaking to Military.com, Ellis and her lawyer Meg Phelan talked about why they ultimately chose to sue Wallace and what they were planning to do with the damages if they win in court.
“Matt took away from the tragedy by making it about me that weekend, and so he needs to be held accountable,” Ellis said, noting how proceeds from the case would be given away to victim family members. “The families of the crash victims don’t deserve this,” she told Military.com.
Describing how it feels about to be so heavily scrutinized, Ellis said: “As someone who’s been to Iraq, who’s been shot at, it’s a little bit different when the whole world has a magnifying glass on you. It’s just overwhelming. [But] I’m going to keep showing up and keep serving my country, because I love my country and I love my state, and that’s ultimately what I want to do.”
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The American Airlines flight and Black Hawk helicopter that collided on Jan. 29 were both flying over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., when the incident occurred.
All 67 people aboard the two aircraft died.
“In the wake of this horrible tragedy, Defendant decided to exploit this devastation for clicks and money,” Ellis’ complaint says. “Defendant is a popular commentator on x.com (“X”) with over 2.3 million followers, so all he needed was a villain.”
Ellis has described Wallace as a “notorious transphobe” who allegedly knew an “anti-transgender narrative would draw significant attention,” her complaint says.
“Once he had Plaintiff in his sights, Defendant concocted a destructive and irresponsible defamation campaign against Plaintiff perpetrated on social media,” the document adds. “Defendant used his prominent X platform to monetize a false narrative that Plaintiff was not only one of the Army pilots involved in the mid-air collision, but also that she engaged in ‘another trans terror attack’ and intentionally caused the mid-air collision due to her ‘depression’ and ‘Gender Dysphoria.””
Ellis told Military.com that she has been using her Army resiliency training as an “effective” way to help deal with threats and nasty messages that have come at her in wake of Wallace’s posts.
“Loose fingers on keyboards is having a real impact to many people’s lives, and I don’t know what the answer is, so the only answer I have is filing a lawsuit for defamation,” Ellis said.
Her lawyer, Phelan, added: “We’re going to fight as hard as we can against this in court. Our plan is just to fight and to use the law, which we believe is on our side.”
Attempts by Law&Crime to reach Wallace for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
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