Neil deGrasse Tyson Under Fire for 'Insensitive' Tweet About Mass Shooting Incidents

Neil deGrasse Tyson is facing heated responses on his tweet about the recent mass shooting incidents.

The celebrity scientist posted a tweet comparing the number of casualties from the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio to the casualty count of other preventable causes of death in America.

The tweet may be composed of facts, but many have taken his last remark as insensitive during a tragic situation: “Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data.”

The tweet is made in reference to the mass shootings that left 21 people dead at El Paso Walmart when a gunman open fired at a store on Sunday and, less than a day later, at least nine people killed when a gunman fired at downtown entertainment spot in Dayton.

The El Paso gunman is allegedly motivated by a racist manifesto he previously posted on Facebook. The city where the shooting took place is reportedly heavily populated by Hispanic citizens.

Twitter user @CassavaKid commented on the lack of wisdom in the tweet.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah reacted to Tyson's trending tweet and its bad "timing" during a time of tragedy.

"I get what he was trying to do like he was trying to be science-y in that moment," said Noah during the show. "But first of all, timing."

Noah also discussed that the U.S. had been implementing laws, new systems and other forms of attempts to stop the other causes of death that Tyson mentioned, but is yet to make any form of an attempt to make owning a gun in the country a more difficult process.

The science communicator has since written an apology for the “unhelpful” tweet.

“If you missed it, I offered a shor tlist of largely preventable causes of death, along with their average two-day death toll in the United States... I then noted that we tend to react emotionally to spectacular incidences of death, with the implication that more common causes of death trigger milder responses within us,” he wrote on a Facebook note.

“My intent was to offer objectively true information that might help shape conversations and reactions to preventable ways we die,” he continued.

“What I learned from the range of reactions is that for many people, some information –-my Tweet in particular -- can be true but unhelpful, especially at a time when many people are either still in shock, or trying to heal – or both... I got this one wrong,” he said.

However, not all are convinced of his apology. Kellie Gerardi, space professional and science communicator, replied to his note.

“The depth of your reflection in this note is offensively shallow. You used data to draw a false equivalence with unfathomably hurtful timing,” she said. “ Your arrogance has you doubling down with ‘true but unhelpful’. Why even bother with a note?

The shooting incident left at least 22 people dead.