Anti-vaxxers are making excuses for the CDC shooter

When Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on Scripps News this week to address the tragic CDC shooting, he began by condemning the violence that had occurred four days earlier, when shooter Patrick Joseph White fired over 180 rounds into CDC buildings in Atlanta, Georgia. White broke approximately 150 windows and killed Officer David Rose, a Marine veteran, father of one, and expectant father of another. White then fatally shot himself at a nearby CVS. Investigators later discovered writings in which White blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his depression and suicidal ideation—beliefs that reflect themes common in anti-vaccine spaces. Public health workers, Kennedy said in the interview, “should not be the targets of this kind of violence from anybody.”

But then Kennedy pivoted, claiming, somewhat cryptically, that it was unclear what drove the shooter. “We don’t know enough about the motivations of this individual, but people can ask questions without being penalized,” Kennedy said, seemingly referring to people who question the safety of vaccines. He then shifted his remarks back to critiquing federal public health policy. “What I’m trying to do at the agency,” he said, “is return it to gold standard science.”

That carefully ambiguous response contained echoes of the reactions from some of the most influential anti-vaccine influencers on social media. The day after the shooting, Erin Elizabeth, creator of Health Nut News and a well-known anti-vaccine figure with 219,000 followers, posted on X that the tragedy stemmed from public frustration with CDC vaccine guidance, not from misinformation. “R U shocked that mainstream admitted the vaxxed CDC shooter [gun emoji] people and took his own life because of the Covid vaccines, which made him suicid@l?” she wrote. “It’s proven to alter brain chemistry. And several of my regulars w accts posted today that the shot has made them like this.”

Larry Cook launched the Stop Mandatory Vaccination movement in 2015. He grew a Facebook community of around 360,000 members before platforms dismantled much of his reach, using fundraising and promotion to spread anti-vaccine and health conspiracy content. On August 13, Cook reposted an Instagram post that accused news outlets of incorrectly referring to the shooter as an anti-vaxxer rather than an ex-vaxxer. “Fake news can’t distinguish between an ex-vaxxer and an anti-vaxxer,” Cook told his 131,000 followers on X, implying that White soured on the Covid shot only after concluding that he had been injured by it.

Another amplifier, Jessica Rojas—who describes herself as a “conspiracy realist,” “mother,” and “libertarian skeptic”—also weighed in, posting to her 211,000 followers, “Media spin: ‘CDC shooter was an anti-vaxxer.’ Truth: He got the shot, was injured, and abandoned. Also, he didn’t kill any kids. The CDC can’t say the same.”

Into this mix entered Dr. Robert Malone, a physician and biochemist who in recent years became one of the most prominent critics of Covid vaccines, promoting false claims about their safety and efficacy. Kennedy recently appointed Malone to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), whose previous members Kennedy had fired this spring.

In the wake of the shooting, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) demanded that Kennedy remove Malone from the ACIP. Blumenthal pointed to Malone’s posts rounding up memes—one from a day before the shooting featured an image of a revolver with the phrase, “Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless,” and another from two days after the shooting that included the phrase, “if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.” Blumenthal said they were unacceptable, especially in the context of a tragedy that killed a law enforcement officer and terrified public health workers. Malone, however, has contested these allegations, insisting they were misinterpreted and denying that they justify his removal. Thus far, Kennedy has not weighed in regarding Malone’s future at ACIP.

HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said Monday in a statement that Kennedy “has unequivocally condemned the horrific attack and remains fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of CDC employees.” The CDC’s employee union, however, seemed unconvinced. In a statement, they described a climate of escalating hostility toward public health staff, fueled by misinformation, and urged federal leaders to explicitly denounce disinformation and improve staff safety. The tragedy, the union wrote, “compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.”