Aug. 12 (UPI) — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has visited the CDC headquarters in Atlanta where a police officer was killed in a shooting that is believed to have targeted the national public health agency.
Kennedy was led by CDC security on a tour of the Roybal Campus on Monday, HHS said in a statement, with HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and CDC Director Susan Monarez in attendance.
Little information about the tour was made public aside from shattered windows across multiple buildings on campus being pointed out to Kennedy.
Kennedy also visited the DeKalb County Police Department, which lost office David Rose in the shooting. The HHS secretary also visited with Rose’s widow, the statement said.
“He offered his deepest condolences and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to honoring officer Rose’s bravery, sacrifice and service to the nation,” HHS said.
Rose was fatally shot while responding to the shooting at the CDC headquarters on Friday.
The suspected gunman, 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, was shot dead by police at the scene.
At least 180 shots were fired during the incident, hitting at least 150 windows and doors at the CDC headquarters, CBS News reported, citing two people with knowledge of the police investigation.
Authorities believe that White targeted the CDC over health problems he blamed on the COVID-19 vaccine.
The shooting came on the heels of Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, pulling $500 million in funding from developing vaccines using mRNA technology, which was used to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.
Despite support from the medical community for such research and medical therapies, Kennedy claimed “the technology poses more risks than benefits.”
Before his visit, the union representing thousands of workers at the CDC on Sunday called on Kennedy and CDC leadership to make “a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.”
“The deliberate targeting of CDC through this violent act is deeply disturbing, completely unacceptable and an attack on every public servant,” the union said.
“Early reports indicate the gunman was motivated by vaccine disinformation, which continues to pose a dangerous threat to public health and safety.”