Without offering any evidence, Trump suggested the aviation authority’s diversity hiring practices could partly be to blame for the crash, making trans personnel such as Ellis a ripe target for online rumours.
Her friends alerted her to a random Facebook account asking around if people knew Ellis, calling her the one who “killed those people in the crash” and other posts that questioned whether it was a “trans terror attack”.
Others sent her screenshots of two news sites, including a Pakistani outlet, which suggested that Ellis was piloting the ill-fated helicopter.
As the rumours reached a fever pitch, with Ellis’ name trending on the Elon Musk-owned platform X, a British newspaper reporter called her cellphone asking if she was alive.
“When I noticed how big the issue was, and I saw some of the comments, my first thought was: ‘Is my family safe?’” Ellis told AFP at her apartment in the city of Richmond.
“I arranged armed private security for my house and packed my bags,” Ellis said, displaying her personal firearms, including a gun the size of her hand that she carries in her purse.
Worried that someone might track down her home using public records, she temporarily moved her family to a new location.
Ellis posted a “proof of life” video on Facebook, which quelled only some of the rumours.
The threats facing Ellis, who has served in the National Guard since 2009 and has deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, highlight the real-life impact of disinformation for...
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