On Wednesday, over 750 current and former staff members at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urged Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to “stop spreading inaccurate health information.” This follows a shooting earlier this month at the headquarters of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a letter, former and current staffers expressed "grave concern for America's health and security.” “The violent August 8th attack on CDC's headquarters in Atlanta was not random,” the letter writers stated. “The attacker fired hundreds of rounds into buildings as the CDC workforce inside carried out its mission of serving the American people. The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization—and now, violence.”
“When the federal workforce is not safe, America is not safe,” the HHS employees highlighted. They claimed that “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is complicit in dismantling America’s public health infrastructure and endangering the nation’s health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information.”
The letter writers expressed that “dangerous and deceitful statements and actions have contributed to the harassment and violence experienced by CDC staff,” and urged RFK Jr. to stop spreading inaccurate health information; to affirm CDC's scientific integrity; and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce.
