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.

All 67 people aboard the two aircraft were killed in the crash, the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in more than 20 years.

On Jan. 30, less than 24 hours after the crash, Wallace shared a post from one of his alternative accounts that claimed the helicopter pilot was transgender. The post, which Wallace later deleted, included a photo of Ellis,........

© The Hill