A trans member of the National Guard is speaking out after a wave of claims on social media falsely pointed to her as the pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet in Washington,

Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot with the Virginia National Guard, released a statement on Facebook as “proof of life” in response to viral posts online falsely identifying her as one of the pilots of a U.

Following a fatal air collision above the US capital, social media users claimed the Blackhawk helicopter that struck a jetliner was piloted by a transgender service member. But Jo Ellis, the person named in the posts,