Raw Story

by Anuj CHOPRA

Gingerly placing a gun on her kitchen counter, American trans pilot Jo Ellis said she no longer leaves her apartment without a firearm after false online claims about her involvement in a fatal air crash triggered a deluge of threats.

The career of the Black Hawk pilot in the Virginia Army National Guard hangs in limbo after a Pentagon memo last week revealed that transgender troops will be purged from the military unless they obtain a waiver on a case-by-case basis.

President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders targeting the trans community -- a flash point in the so-called culture wars roiling the United States -- including barring them from women's sports and instructing the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female.

Tens of thousands of social media posts falsely identified Ellis, 35, as one of the pilots of the army helicopter that collided with a passenger plane in Washington in late January, killing everyone aboard both aircrafts.

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 rumors.

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 rumors reached a fever pitch, with Ellis's 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.

- 'We're a target' -

"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 rumors.

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 transgender people at a time when there has been a sharp uptick in the political rhetoric against them.

"I believe we're a target right now," Ellis said.

"We're being vilified as this kind of boogeyman," she added.

Online posts suggested that her hatred for Trump had motivated her to kill herself and dozens of others, an accusation she found strange for someone who had voted "red more than blue."

"I'm actually from a family that voted for Trump, so it's very strange to see that."

- 'Upsetting' -

Adding to that was job insecurity prompted by the Pentagon memo, which became public as part of a court filing in a case challenging Trump's recent executive order aimed at barring military service for transgender personnel.

Ellis said her supervisors, who reached out to offer support after the disinformation campaign, had informed her that the memo had not yet trickled down to them and encouraged her to continue for now.

"It's upsetting, but I will continue to place the mission first and do my job," Ellis said of the memo.

"I'm not sure I meet the criteria for a waiver, but I will try to exhaust all options that allow me to continue serving."

In a personal essay for the website Smerconish published just before the air crash, Ellis wrote she noticed symptoms of gender dysphoria from the age of five but learned to hide them from her family.

Growing up in a religious and conservative home with a history of military service, she tried to be "more manly" in hopes it would "cure" her.

She received "overwhelming support" when she notified her command in 2023 that she would begin transitioning. Ellis came out to her unit the following year.

"If I was serving today and was not out, I would consider not coming out, or I would consider leaving the military," she said.

"Because it doesn't seem like it's an environment where you can serve effectively with the current policies coming down."

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© Agence France-Presse

Donald Trump on Sunday attacked his former adviser, and asked Americans to "spend less time worrying about Putin."

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who served as Mr. Trump's national security adviser during his first administration, said over the weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin was cheering after Trump and his number two, J.D. Vance, yelled at Ukraine's leader while in the Oval Office.

That news apparently didn't sit well with the President, who struck out against his former adviser on social media.

ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight

"H.R. MCMASTER IS A WEAK AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE LOSER!" Trump wrote in an all-caps rant on Truth Social on Sunday.

In a separate post, Trump added, "We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country - So that we don’t end up like Europe!"

Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 rioters after taking office, but there is still one of the President's supporters facing time in prison, according to a reporter on Sunday.

CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott MacFarlane took to social media over the weekend to announce, "Yes … one Trump supporter still faces sentencing and potential prison time in a case with connections to Jan 6."

In a new article entitled, "Trump supporter faces possible prison time in case associated with Jan. 6," MacFarlane and Jacob Rosen reported that "one case with a connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol remains, and the Texas woman involved still faces the prospect of prison time."

ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight

"A federal judge in Texas has scheduled sentencing for Abigail Shry, 44, for May 5 at the federal courthouse in Houston. Shry pleaded guilty in November to a threat charge — for making a vulgar, racist and violent threat in 2023 against the judge handling Mr. Trump's Jan. 6 criminal case in Washington," according to the CBS report. "Prosecutors alleged Shry made the threatening phone call to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan just hours after Chutkan was assigned to handle Trump's election subversion criminal case."

The report states, "Shry's sentencing has been postponed multiple times, but carries the prospect of a prison term."

Read the article here.

A world famous international journalist was left agape Friday as she watched President Donald Trump berate Ukraine’s leader in an unprecedented Oval Office meltdown.

“Never in the history of modern diplomacy, war, peace, whatever, have I ever, ever, ever seen anything like it,” a gobsmacked Christiane Amanpour said on CNN as she held her head, mouth wide open.

The network’s chief international anchor is famed for her extensive coverage of major international events and conflicts, earning her a reputation as one of the most respected foreign correspondents.

“We just have to hope that for the safety of the free world and for the American people, for the European people, for the Ukrainian people, that these two presidents run out of breath and try to iron out their differences.

“This was an entirely personal go-to with so many mistruths and mis-facts.”

The press conference between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky came after the two met with the intention of ironing out a peace deal for the Eastern European country, which has been at war after being invaded by Russia three years ago.

Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance each took turns publicly shouting at Zelenskyy with Trump accusing him of hating Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vance calling him ungrateful for America’s assistance.

After the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.

"I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Shortly after his tumultuous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, President Donald Trump issued a statement indicating that he would abandon Ukraine, which he accused of not wanting to make "peace" with Russia.

"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump wrote on his Truth Social page Friday. "I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

ALSO READ: 'Gotta be kidding': Jim Jordan scrambles as he's confronted over Musk 'double standard'

Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance each took turns berating Zelenskyy to his face on Friday, with Vance calling the Ukrainian leader ungrateful for the assistance America has given and Trump accusing Zelenskyy of having a supposedly irrational hatred of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been bombing and invading his country for more than three years now.

President Donald Trump yelled at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office after the latter challenged Trump's facts and corrected his false information.

Zelenskyy was set to visit for an agreement about sharing rare earth minerals from Ukraine. The meeting began in a polite way but went off the rails when reporters began asking questions.

Former Russian Ambassador Michael McFaul called the meeting "horrific," noting he was refraining from using profane language.

ALSO READ: 'Educated America knows we are in a coup': A letter to Volodymyr Zelensky

"This was a tragedy. And a tragedy for American national security interests," he continued. "I want to really emphasize that this does nobody any good. This doesn't make the American people better off tomorrow. The senator, now, Vice President J.D. Vance, pleading for the leader of a country to pledge his fealty to President Trump and say thank you. I want to remind your viewers, President Zelenskyy said, thank you to the American people a thousand times. Use ChatGPT, Mr. Vice President, and look for it."

He also said that Vance voted against Ukraine funding, so he sees the meeting as a paradox.

"It just was shocking to me. And we need they need to sign this deal. This deal was good for the United States, was good for Ukraine," said McFaul. "And instead of signing that deal, we were relitigating [Joe] Biden and [Barack] Obama. And I just wish the president would put our interests today front and center and stop litigating what happened in 2016 or before, because that is not in America's national interest."

See the full comments below or at the link here.

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