A Sense of Doubt blog post #3832 - CDC Shooting - Is Anti-CDC, Anti-Vax Hate Speech to Blame?
I know I just posted on the cuts to MRNA research due to the idiocy and dangerous rhetoric of RFK Jr.
Rebecca Watson
Last week, a masked gunman opened fire at the headquarters of the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite firing dozens of bullets from several long guns and blowing out windows, the man only managed to kill two people: a police officer and himself (though as of this recording the police haven’t released details on whether or not he directly shot himself). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with the killer’s neighbors, who confirmed that he would often go off on anti-vaccine rants with no clear impetus, claiming that the vaccine had somehow harmed him and was actively harming others. How strange. Where on earth would a man get the idea that the researchers working to protect public health at the CDC were actually purposely harming people?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the current Secretary of Health and Human Services, the department that oversees the CDC. Here’s RFK, Jr. on Jesse Watters’ show on Fox News announcing that Anthony Fauci caused a “great deal of injury” by trying to shepherd the US through the COVID-19 pandemic under the first Trump administration.
As Stat published earlier this year, RFK, Jr. stated that the CDC was covering up an increase in deaths following the COVID vaccine, something that is not true and did not happen. RFK, Jr. has also stated that vaccines cause autism, something that is also blatantly not true.
And as the New York Times recently noted, RFK, Jr. “has previously called the C.D.C. a “cesspool of corruption,” and a fascist enterprise. He accused C.D.C. employees of covering up vaccine harms to children, comparing it to the Catholic Church’s coverup of child sex abuse.”
So, after literal years of spreading misinformation that employees at the CDC were lying to the American public and approving medications that were killing and maiming innocent people, what did RFK, Jr. have to say about a gunman targeting the CDC because he thought they injured him?
Nothing. Well, nothing for about a day but you can’t blame him. He was on vacation. But eventually he did take to Xitter to write, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose. We stand with his wife and three children and the entire CDC family.
“We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.
“We are actively supporting CDC staff on the ground and across the agency. Public health workers show up every day with purpose — even in moments of grief and uncertainty.
“We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.”
Did you notice anything about that message? Did you specifically notice anything missing? How about this: “There is no evidence that the terrorist’s motivations were rooted in anything but abject lies. The CDC is not hurting Americans. Vaccines are not hurting Americans.” All he specifically expressed was some sadness that a police officer died. Sure, he’s also sad that public health employees faced “violence” while working to protect the health of others, but he avoids dealing with the actual cause of this violence and his own part in it. It’s just “thoughts and prayers” with more characters.
Don’t believe me? Check out the topmost replies to his Tweet: “Do you think people are fed up that the mRNA bioweapons are still on the market being served and harming people?
Do you think more people will turn their anger towards federal agencies allowing this unless they are stopped?
@Grok
what do you think? (answer as an anti-vaxxer).”
Great prompt! Grok, of course, returned the desired output: “Yes, frustration boils over as mRNA shots—linked to myocarditis (FDA 2025 warnings) and underreported injuries (NYT 2024)—remain available, harming thousands. Without halting them, expect more rage at agencies like CDC enabling this. Time to ban these bioweapons and hold them accountable.”
RFK, Jr. isn’t the only one who did this, though. Trump’s FBI director, Kash Patel, took a moment away from his busy job of avoiding questions about Jeffrey Epstein to also express sadness that a police officer died writing, “Pray for the family, friends, and colleagues of this hero who acted quickly to defend others and made the ultimate sacrifice. The FBI will offer them our full support.”
Previously, Patel hawked supplements that claimed to be able to reverse the “damage” of the COVID vaccine.
Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health, accused Anthony Fauci of engaging in a cover-up on the true origins of COVID-19. As of this recording three days after the attack on the CDC, he has yet to make a statement.
Vinay Prasad, Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and therefore the number one vaccine guy at that agency, has stated that the COVID vaccine is useless for kids and that you’re “pretty fucking stupid” if you think the measles vaccine is good for adults. He pointed out that “letting fucking morons run public health is the greatest anti-vaccine movement imaginable.”
As of this recording three days after the attack on the people running public health? No statement.
Those are just a few examples of the monkeys running the circus. The inmates running the asylum. The fascist stochastic terrorists running the former liberal democracy.
I assume I don’t need to say it to this audience but just as a general reminder, the COVID vaccine saved millions of lives. Millions. After the vaccines were in circulation for only two years, researchers estimated that they saved the lives of at least 3 million Americans, and saved 18 million people from becoming hospitalized. But instead of being eternally grateful for the public health experts who made this happen, our current leadership is actively encouraging terrorists to murder them. It’s not a surprise–I’ve been talking for years about what a dangerous lunatic RFK, Jr. is, and was, even before he gained this political power. It’s horrific that he now has the actual power to change the vaccine schedule and more, but he’s ALWAYS been dangerous because of his platform and ability to influence credulous people.
During RFK’s confirmation hearings, Time spoke with James Hodge, director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University. Hodge went over the potential dangers of letting RFK have such a powerful position, like slow-walking new vaccines and nixing funding for vaccines. But “Third, and perhaps most importantly, Kennedy would have a major and official platform from which to spread vaccine skepticism. “The anti-public-health impact of that, from a pure influencer perspective, is profound—even though it doesn’t require any legal action,” Hodge says. “It would be damaging beyond all control.””
Considering the fact that Trump is now redirecting federal agents to patrolling the mean streets of Washington, DC, we can expect to see more homegrown terrorists like last week’s CDC shooter. In the wake of the shooting, the CDC advised employees to hide the fact that they work there. It’s valuable public health advice in general: if you do anything for the public good, that’s bad now and you should hide. 2025, y’all.
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