The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta was fatally shot by Patrick White, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union called out vaccine misinformation for putting agency staffers at risk, demanding a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation by CDC and HHS leadership. Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams echoed these sentiments, stating the shooting was a reflection of threats to public health workers brought on by a climate of “misinformation, politicization, and inflammatory rhetoric.” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Adams criticized for being slow to respond to the shooting, has long spread vaccine misinformation and defended his decision to end funding for mRNA shots and reiterated his concerns about coronavirus vaccine injuries. Kennedy deflected any direct link to a plan to quell misinformation and prevent something like the CDC shooting from happening again, stating that public health agencies should not be the targets of violence from anybody.
DC has been implicated in a fatal CDC shooting due to vaccine misinformation. Huong DN 591
