750+ HHS Workers Condemn Kennedy’s Rhetoric After Deadly CDC Shooting

More than 750 current and former employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including those from the CDC and NIH, have signed an open letter condemning Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading misinformation that endangers public health workers and the American public. The letter cites Kennedy's actions such as replacing vaccine advisory panel members with inadequately vetted individuals, cutting funding for mRNA vaccine development, and promoting disproven vaccine-autism links, which have contributed to a hostile environment culminating in a deadly shooting at the CDC headquarters. The gunman, motivated by conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines, killed a police officer and fired hundreds of rounds, intensifying fears among federal health employees. Signatories demand Kennedy publicly disavow false claims, affirm scientific integrity at the CDC, and ensure employee safety by implementing emergency procedures and removing targeted online content. Experts and union leaders warn that Kennedy's rhetoric fosters mistrust and violence, calling the attack a targeted assault on public health officials and likening it to an insurrection against science-based health institutions. The letter reflects escalating tensions within the second Trump administration amid ongoing debates over vaccine policies and public health misinformation.