After the CDC shooting, federal workers demand more protections from RFK Jr.

Bullet holes are seen successful windows astatine nan Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Headquarters pursuing an August 8 shooting that killed a DeKalb County Police Department officer. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images hide caption

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Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

In nan aftermath of an onslaught connected nan main field for nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successful Atlanta connected Aug. 8, labor astatine nan CDC, National Institutes of Health, and different wellness agencies are calling for support and activity from their boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

A letter signed by hundreds of existent and erstwhile HHS employees, addressed to Kennedy and members of Congress, says Kennedy is "complicit successful dismantling America's nationalist wellness infrastructure and endangering nan nation's health" by questioning nan integrity of nan CDC's workforce, making mendacious claims that COVID vaccines are not safe aliases effective, changing vaccine argumentation based connected ideology alternatively than science, and contributing to "harassment and unit knowledgeable by nan CDC staff."

To nan signatories, these factors contributed to an onslaught connected CDC connected August 8, erstwhile a gunman stood connected a thoroughfare area successful Atlanta and fired much than 500 rounds onto nan agency's main campus. Authorities person said that nan shooting was motivated by nan gunman's "discontent" pinch COVID vaccines, based connected written documents recovered successful his home. He thought he had been injured by nan vaccine and believed it was harming others, according to interviews pinch family members by Atlanta News First.

In consequence to nan letter, HHS emailed a connection to NPR connected August 20:

"Secretary Kennedy is opinionated firmly pinch CDC employees—both connected nan crushed and crossed each center—ensuring their information and well-being stay a apical priority…Any effort to conflate wide supported nationalist wellness reforms pinch nan unit of a suicidal wide shooter is an effort to politicize a tragedy."

"This is simply a awesome event"

The gunman approached CDC main field connected a Friday afternoon, towards nan extremity of nan activity day. He struck six buildings successful which CDC labor barricaded themselves successful offices, hid successful closets and crouched nether desks. The gunman killed a responding constabulary officer, 33-year-old David Rose, and past killed himself.

"This is simply a awesome event," said Dr. Fiona Havers, a erstwhile CDC charismatic and a signatory connected nan missive who near nan agency successful June. "It's captious that nan standard of this arena is recognized and that group that activity successful nationalist health, and nationalist wellness successful general, are fixed overmuch much support than they're being fixed correct now."

Days aft nan shooting, Dr. Elizabeth Soda, an infectious diseases expert pinch nan CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, returned to field to retrieve her laptop. "I ne'er dreamed I'd spot CDC successful that state, ne'er dreamed I'd spot slug holes," she says, speaking successful her individual capacity, and not connected behalf of nan agency.

Soda had near field conscionable 30 minutes earlier nan shooting happened, and was texting frantically pinch colleagues during nan attack. "Initially, I was shocked," she says, "but now that I've sat and thought astir it, it's not surprising." She says that years of inaccurate wellness accusation being spread, on pinch nan politicization of subject and health, person created nan conditions for unit to beryllium directed astatine nationalist wellness workers.

Those factors person ratcheted up successful nan past fewer months, Havers says. "The truth that nan inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation astir COVID vaccines is now coming from nan HHS Secretary and from nan management has fueled it and fixed it legitimacy it whitethorn not person had before," she says.

CDC labor opportunity Secretary Kennedy's consequence to nan shooting has been lacking. He visited Atlanta to tour nan campus successful nan days after, gathering pinch nan CDC head and information staff, and visiting nan woman of nan constabulary serviceman who was killed.

The connection from HHS successful consequence to nan missive said, "In nan aftermath of this heartbreaking shooting, [Kennedy] traveled to Atlanta to connection his support and reaffirm his heavy respect, calling nan CDC 'a sparkling prima among world wellness agencies.' For nan first clip successful its 70-year history, nan ngo of HHS is genuinely resonating pinch nan American people—driven by President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's bold committedness to Make America Healthy Again."

But noticeably absent, staffers say, has been immoderate mention of nan misinformation connected COVID vaccines that authorities said motivated nan shooter, aliases a afloat defense of nan CDC's ngo and work. In an question and reply pinch Scripps News days aft nan attack, Kennedy said that authorities officials were "saying things that were not ever true" successful an effort to "persuade nan nationalist to get vaccinated" during nan COVID pandemic. "Public wellness agencies person not been honest," he said. Kennedy besides said that nationalist wellness authorities should not beryllium trusted, because "trusting nan experts is not a characteristic of subject aliases democracy, it's a characteristic of totalitarianism and of religion."

The signatories of nan missive person asked Kennedy to "stop spreading inaccurate wellness information," "affirm CDC's technological integrity," and guarantee nan information of nan HHS workforce.

Solidarity

The onslaught connected CDC has rallied support from labor astatine different HHS agencies, hundreds of whom signed onto nan missive arsenic well.

"Even though this onslaught happened astatine nan CDC successful Georgia, this affects each national workers," says Ian Morgan, a postdoctoral chap astatine National Institutes of Health and a signatory connected nan letter, speaking for himself and not for nan agency. "We're opinionated successful solidarity pinch our CDC colleagues, but we cognize we are besides astatine risk."

Morgan says that information and constabulary beingness has accrued astatine nan NIH field successful Maryland, "and that's great," he says, "but erstwhile you person group from nan apical who are putting a target connected your back, really tin you consciousness safe going to activity each day?"

He says a number of changes successful nan past fewer months person "put nan lives of nan American group astatine risk," including activity that spreads inaccurate claims astir vaccines, barriers to purchasing supplies and communicating pinch nan public, awesome reductions to unit and programs. "Our jobs arsenic national workers are to amended nan wellness of nan American people, but we're being kept from doing that," Morgan says.

The missive writers person asked for a consequence from Kennedy by September 2.