The executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations says he had hoped more people would have died in the Russian plane crash in the Black Sea that claimed 92 lives, Breitbart reports.
Hussam Ayloush, whose organization is said to speak for American Muslims, had tweeted: "I'm sad about the crashed Russian military jet. The TU-154 could have carried up to 180 military personnel instead of just 92."
He later deleted the Christmas Day tweet after learning the dead included military musicians and a choir headed to Syria to perform on Christmas.
Breitbart reports it is not the first time Ayloush has found himself the center of controversy.
Last year, he claimed the U.S. was "partially" responsible for the deadly attack in San Bernardino, California that left 14 dead, according to the news site.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Russian plane crash killed over 60 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army performing group that was flying to Syria to entertain Russian troops.
Russia has ruled out a terrorist attack on the plan as the likely cause of the disaster.
"We're looking into either the technical condition (of the plane) or a pilot error," Russia's transportation minister Maxim Sokolov said.
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