Gunman who attacked CDC aimed to send message against COVID-19 vaccine

A antheral who opened fire astatine the office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seemingly wanted to nonstop a connection against the COVID vaccines, according to authorities successful the United States.

The update connected Tuesday came conscionable days aft Patrick Joseph White, 30, attacked the authorities wellness installation successful Atlanta, Georgia, connected August 8.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said that documents recovered astatine White’s location “expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations” and that helium wanted to marque “the nationalist alert of his discontent with the vaccine”.

Hosey added that White had precocious expressed thoughts of suicide, with a neighbour telling section media helium had claimed his slump was connected to the vaccine.

According to investigators, White died by a self-inflicted gunshot coiled connected the time of the attack. He fired more than 180 shots with a agelong gun, fatally shooting a constabulary serviceman astatine the scene.

Since the shooting, critics person slammed President Donald Trump and his allies for creating an situation that fuels vaccine scepticism and misinformation.

“This calamity was not random and it compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC unit person endured,” a national representing CDC employees, AFGE Local 2883, said successful a statement connected Monday.

It called connected the medication to instrumentality a “clear and unequivocal stance successful condemning vaccine disinformation”.

“Their enactment is captious successful reinforcing nationalist spot and ensuring that accurate, science-based accusation prevails,” the national said.

A way grounds of misinformation

Trump was successful the last afloat twelvemonth of his archetypal word successful 2020, erstwhile COVID-19 started to dispersed successful the US. More than 1.2 cardinal Americans died arsenic a effect of the pandemic.

But a survey from Cornell University successful 2021 recovered that astir 38 percent of the “misinformation conversation” surrounding COVID-19 progressive Trump.

At the time, 1 of the study’s authors told The New York Times that the president was the “single largest operator of misinformation” astir COVID-19.

Trump repeatedly promoted unproven treatments similar hydroxychloroquine arsenic alternatives to vaccination during the pandemic. He besides downplayed the pandemic’s risks, saying successful February 2020: “I deliberation it’s going to enactment retired fine.”

Since January, successful the opening months of his 2nd term, critics person accused Trump of continuing to sow uncertainty successful vaccination and aesculapian research.

They constituent to his information of Robert F Kennedy Jr, a salient vaccine sceptic, arsenic person of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the CDC.

Recently, Kennedy cancelled hundreds of millions of dollars successful backing for probe into mRNA vaccines, a aesculapian breakthrough credited with helping to extremity the COVID pandemic.

Experts accidental the backing chopped volition hamper the improvement of an emerging exertion that could beryllium utilized to combat different pathogens.

But Kennedy suggested the vaccines “fail to support efficaciously against precocious respiratory infections similar COVID and flu”, a assertion not supported by research.

‘A clime of hostility’

On Monday, Kennedy visited the CDC successful Atlanta arsenic good arsenic the DeKalb County Police Department.

He aboriginal met privately the woman of the constabulary serviceman killed successful the attack, 33-year-old David Rose.

“No 1 should look unit portion moving to support the wellness of others,” Kennedy said successful a connection Saturday, adding that national wellness officials are “actively supporting CDC staff”.

Investigators said they had recovered 5 firearms related to the attack, with much than 500 ammunition casings recovered from the transgression scene.

The shooting broke astir 150 windows crossed the CDC campus, with bullets piercing “blast-resistant” windows arsenic workers remained pinned inside.

Fired But Fighting, a radical of laid-off CDC employees, said Kennedy was liable for villainising the CDC’s workforce done “his continuous lies astir subject and vaccine safety, which person fueled a clime of hostility and mistrust”.

“We don’t request thoughts and prayers,” the radical wrote connected its website. “We request an medication that does not villainize national workers who are conscionable trying to bash their job. We request a Health and Human Services Secretary who does not beforehand misinformation astir subject and vaccines.”

It called for Kennedy’s resignation, arsenic good arsenic the departure of Russell Vought, an medication authoritative who antecedently said helium wanted national workers to consciousness “trauma” astir going to work.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies