Sec. Robert F. Kennedy addresses CDC shooting
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, who oversees the CDC, addressed the shooting at the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta. Kennedy told FOX News that nobody in public service should have to risk their life.
ATLANTA – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Roybal Campus in Atlanta on Monday following Friday’s shooting that killed DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose.
RFK Jr. tours CDC main campus in Atlanta
What we know:
CDC security led Kennedy on a tour of the campus, pointing out shattered windows across several buildings, including the main guard booth. Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and CDC Director Susan Monarez joined him on the visit.
Kennedy later met with DeKalb County Police Chief Greg Padrick at police headquarters and privately with Rose’s widow. Rose, 33, was shot while responding to reports of gunfire at a CVS store across from the CDC and died at Emory University Hospital. He is survived by his wife, two children, and a third child on the way.
It is believed that Kennedy traveled to the CDC to meet with CDC Director Susan Monarez, who recently assumed leadership of the CDC after President Trump took office for the second time. However, the majority of CDC employees were not on the Roybal campus when Kennedy visited because they were told to work from home today. It is not clear as to when the employees will return to the Atlanta campus.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose,” Kennedy wrote on X. “We stand with his wife and three children and the entire CDC family.”
The Department of Health and Human Services said most CDC employees assigned to Roybal Campus are teleworking this week as new safety measures are put in place.
Emory, CDC shooting
The backstory:
According to the GBI and other local officials, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw opened fire on the CDC shortly before 5 p.m. on Aug. 8. DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was shot as he responded to the scene and died soon after at Emory University Hospital.
Multiple windows of the CDC were struck by bullets, and employees were unable to leave the campus for several hours after White’s body was found on the second floor of the building housing a CVS store across the street from the CDC. Additionally, 92 children were held inside a daycare until it was deemed safe to reunite them with their parents at an off-sire location.
RFK Jr. defends scaling back mRNA vaccines
What they’re saying:
During an interview with FOX News’ Jonathan Serrie, Kennedy said CDC workers should be honored for protecting public health and should not feel that their lives are at risk. He also addressed his decision to scale back mRNA vaccine development for respiratory infections, citing scientific concerns, safety risks, and public mistrust.
Kennedy said the technology may be better suited for cancer and other illnesses but not upper respiratory infections, where he argued it can drive viral evolution. He also noted reports of injuries associated with the COVID-19 vaccine and pointed to low vaccination uptake, particularly among children.
On vaccine confidence, Kennedy said public trust in federal health agencies is “at a historic low” and argued that transparency — not propaganda — is the way to rebuild it. He linked declining health outcomes to the American diet and outlined his “Make America Healthy Again” priorities, including limiting ultra-processed foods in federal nutrition programs.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams criticized the move, warning that reducing mRNA research could cost lives. Kennedy responded that health officials at the NIH, BARDA, CBER, and CDC agree the application should not target respiratory infections.
He also criticized the government’s pandemic response, saying future outbreaks should focus on isolating the sick, protecting the vulnerable, and keeping society open, while sharing real-time treatment strategies from frontline doctors worldwide.
Protesters after CDC shooting
The other side:
FOX 5 Atlanta observed Kennedy’s motorcade arriving at the CDC, but did not see Kennedy himself. However, we did speak to a man claiming to be a former employee who had come to honor Officer Rose and said that it was offensive to him that Kennedy visited the CDC – saying that he has “blood on his hands.” Additionally, there were several protesters with signs who said they were there because they heard Kennedy was visiting. FOX News confirmed that Kennedy was in Atlanta.
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Some have criticized Kennedy’s response to the shooting, including Purdue University professor and former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
Adams said Kennedy is at least partly responsible for what happened, stating, “When influential leaders dismiss decades of rigorous scientific work, they erode public confidence and embolden those primed to view health professionals as enemies rather than protectors.”
RELATED: CDC shooting highlights anger, COVID-19 vaccine ‘misinformation’
The DeKalb County Police Department is inviting the public to stop by their headquarters in Tucker to pay their respects to the fallen officer.
