UPDATE: A video and additional statement from Jo Ellis have been added since the article was originally published.

A trans woman who has been wrongly named as one of the pilots in a deadly mid-air collision between a helicopter and plane in Washington, D.C., is asking people to help stop the spread of the fake news online. The crash killed 67 people , including U.S. Army members and some families tied to the figure skating community.

"Some craziness has happened on the internet and I’m being named as one of the pilots of the DC crash," posted Jo Ellis, a Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) – UH60 Black Hawk Pilot in the Virginia National Guard.

The rumors spread after President Donald Trump said DEI initiatives in the Federal Aviation Administration to hire air traffic controllers might have caused the fatal crash on Thursday. He's also signed a recent executive order to limit the military service of transgender people.

She took to Facebook on Friday morning, asking for help stopping the spread of the wrong information, including uploading a proof of life video and issuing a statement.

She said neither she nor the families of the crash victims deserve to be tied to this tragedy for a political agenda, calling the move "insulting."

The reason for why the aircraft collided is still under investigation.

Ellis has been in the Virginia National Guard for 15 years, according to a post made Tuesday, Jan. 28 on Michael Smerconish's website . She describes why she decided to transition in the post in a podcast conversation with Smerconish.

She previously worked as the digital media manager for Smerconish's site. In her private life, she's an IT engineer, according to the profile.

Ellis made a statement that the U.S. Department of Defense is responsible for casualty notifications, and there were not Virginia National Guard members on board the Black Hawk that crashed.

"Please report any accounts or posts you see. It’s insulting to the victims and families of those lost and they deserve better than this BS from the bots and trolls of the internet," she wrote Friday.

One Black Hawk pilot killed in D.C. crash was from Mississippi

Family members confirmed on Wednesday that Andrew Eaves , a man raised in Noxubee County, was one of the helicopter pilots who died in the crash.

His wife shared the news in a post on Facebook on Thursday: "My husband was one of the pilots in the Blackhawk. We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve."

Trump cites FAA DEI efforts as factor in crash with no evidence

On Thursday, President Donald Trump said the crash "could have been" the fault of Biden- and Obama-era hiring practices focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism – all qualify for the position of a controller of airplanes pouring into our country," he said, specifically talking about the Federal Aviation Administration's criteria to hire air traffic controllers .

According to the FAA, air traffic controllers must meet specific medical standards and be cleared by a surgeon.