Alexey Pushkov, Russian Lawmaker, Calls Out U.S. Over Navy Shipyard Shooting

Alexey Pushkov, head of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s lower house of parliament, upbraided the United States on Twitter today in response to the mass shooting at the D.C. Navy shipyard, calling the tragedy an example of "American exceptionalism."

Новая стрельба у штаба ВМС в Вашингтоне - одинокий стрелок и 7 трупов. Никто уже не удивлен. Наглядное подтверждение "амер.исключительности"

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) September 16, 2013

"New shooting at the Navy headquarters in Washington -- Lone shooter and 7 corpses. No one is surprised. American exceptionalism," Pushkov wrote, according to a HuffPost translation.

Pushkov continued in English:

The USA should part with the notion of American exceptionalism. It contradicts the principles of equal rights and smells of political racism

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) September 16, 2013

"Exceptional" Americans! Some of you have just proved that you are really exceptional - first of all, by your level of hatred and animosity.

— Алексей Пушков (@Alexey_Pushkov) September 16, 2013

This is not Pushkov's first foray into Twitter controversy. The Washington Post reported in July that the politician tweeted that Edward Snowden had accepted asylum in Venezuela. Puskov removed the tweet minutes later.

Then on Aug. 30, as the Obama administration debated a punitive strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad, Pushkov suggested on the social media platform that Obama return his Nobel Peace Prize in the event of a military attack. “If the United States attacks Syria without UN approval, the global community should demand that the Nobel Committee strip Obama of his peace prize,” he wrote Twitter, according to RIA Novosti.

So far, Navy officials have confirmed at least six people were killed in the shooting spree at the D.C. Navy shipyard.

Follow The Huffington Post's liveblog for the latest updates on the shooting.

UPDATE 3.06 P.M.: The U.S. embassy in Moscow took to twitter to respond to Pushkov's comments. "What is exceptional here? Why use a tragedy for a set of political points?" the embassy wrote, according to a HuffPost translation.

.@Alexey_Pushkov Причем тут исключительность? Зачем использовать трагедию для набора политических очков?

— Посольство США в РФ (@USEmbRu) September 16, 2013