Deadly violence not random as staff have endured \u2018months of mistreatment, neglect and vilification\u2019, says union<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A union representing US Centers for Disease Control employees has demanded that the federal government condemn vaccine misinformation after a man who evidently blamed the Covid-19 vaccination<\/a> for making him depressed and suicidal aimed gunfire Friday at the CDC\u2019s headquarters in Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 30-year-old shooting suspect, who killed a police officer and died during the attack<\/a>, had also tried to get into the CDC\u2019s headquarters \u2013 but he was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDC workers\u2019 union said the deadly violence Friday was not random and \u201ccompounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured\u201d. It said vaccine misinformation had put scientists at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, added that the CDC and leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHH) \u2013 headed by Trump administration appointee and avowed vaccine safety skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr<\/a> \u2013 must provide a \u201cclear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a public statement by federal officials is needed to help prevent violence against scientists, the union said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTheir leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails,\u201d the union said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patrick Joseph White was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, when he attacked, said an official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n White\u2019s gunfire hit at least four CDC buildings, agency director Susan Monarez said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DeKalb county police officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding. Rose, 33, a former US marine who served in Afghanistan, had graduated from the police academy in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n White was found on the second floor of a building across the street from the CDC campus and died at the scene, Atlanta<\/a> police chief Darin Schierbaum said. He added that \u201cwe do not know at this time whether that was from officers or if it was self-inflicted\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Georgia bureau of investigations said the crime scene was \u201ccomplex\u201d. The agency added that the investigation into the violence would take \u201can extended period of time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off CDC employees, has said Kennedy Jr is directly responsible for the villainization of the CDC\u2019s workforce through \u201chis continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy Jr reached out to staff Saturday. The DHH secretary said \u201cno one should face violence while working to protect the health of others\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Jerome Adams, who served as the US surgeon general during Donald Trump\u2019s first presidency, said Kennedy\u2019s response to Friday\u2019s shooting was \u201ctepid\u201d, late and amounted to a \u201cfailed \u2026 test\u201d of his leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s not even considering how his inflammatory rhetoric in the past has actually contributed to a lot of what\u2019s been going on,\u201d Adams said on Sunday on CBS\u2019s Face the Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams said the mRNA-based vaccine technology that helped end the Covid-19 pandemic saved more than 2 million lives \u201cby the most conservative estimates\u201d. His comments came days after Kennedy moved to cancel $500m in mRNA vaccine research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thousands of people who work on critical disease research are employed on the attacked campus. The union said some staff were huddled in various buildings until late at night. More than 90 young children were locked down inside the CDC\u2019s Clifton school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The union said CDC staff should not be required to immediately return to work after experiencing such a traumatic event. In its statement Saturday, it said windows and buildings should first be fixed and made \u201ccompletely secure\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStaff should not be required to work next to bullet holes,\u201d the union said. \u201cForcing a return under these conditions risks re-traumatizing staff by exposing them to the reminders of the horrific shooting they endured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The union also called for \u201cperimeter security on all campuses\u201d until the investigation is fully completed and shared with staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n White\u2019s father contacted police and identified his son as the possible shooter. He said White had been upset over the death of his dog and also had become fixated on the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the law enforcement official who spoke to the AP anonymously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A neighbor of White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White \u201cseemed like a good guy\u201d but spoke with her multiple times about distrusting Covid-19 vaccines in unrelated conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,\u201d Nancy Hoalst told the Atlanta newspaper. \u201cHe emphatically believed that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: \u201cI had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n