Transgender pilot complained of defamation after making mistakes defendant Causing catastrophic crash between a helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington, DC
Many online speculated that the diversity, equity and comprehensive policy of the horrifying crash in January, which claimed 67 lives, led to 67 lives, but one influencer allegedly held the transgender helicopter pilot responsible.
“If you can stir the mob because you say something that's not true, that's your right. But if the mob comes after someone, you have to have some consequences.”
Joe Ellis said his friends and family warned the pilot that people were blaming him for the crash. According to To the New York Times. Ellis has been in the National Guard since 2009, deploying in Iraq and Kuwait.
On Wednesday, Ellis filed a honour-loss lawsuit in US District Court in Colorado against Matt Wallace, an influencer with 2.2 million followers on the X social media platform. The lawsuit accused Wallace of concoctioning a “destructive and irresponsible defamation campaign” against the pilot, including suggestions that Ellis committed the attack as part of a transgender terrorist plot.
According to the lawsuit, Wallace speculated that the transgender pilot may have committed the attack due to “depression” and “gender discomfort.” His posts on social media have been deleted.
Ellis claimed that security concerns led the pilot to move with his family to safety. He posted on Facebook to let everyone know that he is still alive to try to ease the false accusations.
The lawsuit was filed by the Equality Legal Action Fund, which protects LGBTQ people from honour and harassment. Ellis said that while he expects monetary damages to be decided in court, the financial compensation will be donated to the families of the victims of the crash.
“I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe in the consequences of freedom of speech,” he said. “If you can stir up a mob because you say something that's not true, that's your right. But if a mob comes after someone, you have to have some consequences.”
The Times said Wallace did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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