Federal Employees Seek Enhanced Protection from RFK Jr. Following CDC Shooting
Federal Employees Seek Enhanced Protection from RFK Jr. Following CDC Shooting
In the wake of a shooting on August 8 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Headquarters in Atlanta, employees from the CDC, National Institutes of Health, and other health agencies are pressuring their leader, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for increased safety measures and support.
The attack, which left a DeKalb County Police Department officer dead, has sparked a new push for accountability. A letter signed by hundreds of current and former HHS employees was sent to Kennedy and members of Congress, accusing the Secretary of being “complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation’s health.” The letter asserts that his actions—including questioning the integrity of the CDC staff, spreading unsubstantiated claims about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and basing vaccine policy on ideology instead of scientific evidence—have created an environment that contributes to “harassment and violence experienced by the CDC staff.”
According to the signatories, these factors were instrumental in the August 8 attack. Authorities have stated that the gunman’s actions were motivated by his “discontent” with COVID-19 vaccines, a belief he documented in writings found at his home. Family members told Atlanta News First that the assailant thought he had been harmed by the vaccine and believed it was dangerous to others.
The shooting occurred on a Friday afternoon as the workday was ending. The gunman fired more than 500 rounds, hitting six buildings and forcing CDC staff to take cover in offices, closets, and under desks. The assailant killed responding officer, 33-year-old David Rose, before taking his own life.
Dr. Fiona Havers, a former CDC official who left the agency in June and signed the letter, emphasized the gravity of the event. “This is a major event,” she said. “It’s critical that the scale of this event is recognized and that people that work in public health… are given much more support than they’re being given right now.”
Another employee, Dr. Elizabeth Soda, an infectious diseases physician at the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, returned to the campus days later. “I never dreamed I’d see CDC in that state, never dreamed I’d see bullet holes,” she stated, speaking in her personal capacity. Soda, who had left the campus just 30 minutes before the attack, was in constant communication with her colleagues as the events unfolded. “Initially, I was shocked,” she said, “but now that I’ve sat and thought about it, it’s not surprising.” She believes that years of misinformation and the politicization of science have created the conditions for violence against public health workers.
Havers noted that the situation has worsened in recent months. “The fact that the inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation about COVID vaccines is now coming from the HHS Secretary and from the administration has fueled it and given it legitimacy it may not have had before,” she said.
CDC employees feel that Secretary Kennedy’s response has been insufficient. While he did visit the campus, meet with the CDC director and security, and visit the family of the fallen officer, staffers point out that his public statement lacked any mention of the misinformation that motivated the shooter. In an interview with Scripps News, Kennedy stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials were “saying things that were not always true” to “persuade the public to get vaccinated.” He added that public health agencies are not always honest and that “trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy, it’s a feature of totalitarianism and of religion.”
The signatories of the letter have called on Kennedy to “stop spreading inaccurate health information,” “affirm CDC’s scientific integrity,” and ensure the safety of the HHS workforce.