A year ago I wrote a post about the shooting at CDC. On August 8, 2025, Patrick Joseph White went to CDC headquarters and fired nearly 500 rounds at the building, piercing office windows, terrorizing a daycare, and murdering DeKalb County police officer David Rose. White blamed the CDC for his health issues, which he believed were the result of the COVID-19 vaccine.
At that time, I talked about how embarrassingly poor RFK Jr.’s response was to this horrifying incident. It took him more than 18 hours to condemn the violence. Between that condemnation and the shooting, he instead posted photos of his fishing trip in Alaska. Three full days later, he did visit the building—mostly empty, since traumatized workers had been told they could work from home, especially since many of their office windows had bullet holes in them. He made a few political visits, then left.
But here we are, one year later. On August 7, 2026, the Friday before the one-year anniversary, RFK Jr. finally decided it was time (or was forced?) to return to CDC headquarters and actually talk to some of the people working there. He wanted a photo op: dedicating a portion of the campus road as Officer David Rose Parkway, and making a speech to a room full of CDC staffers while standing next to Officer Rose’s young daughter, his widow, and a plaque on an easel with a photo of him and some text, presumably to be hung in the lobby near where he died.
One might say OK, he’s very late in showing some care for the people whose lives were endangered as a direct result of their commitment to science, helping improve the lives of others, and government service. But at least he finally woke up and did something. I might say that too, except he botched this appearance so terribly it reads like a story in The Onion.
In front of this room of about 200 CDC employees, many of whom were there the day of the shooting, locked down for hours, terrified—and some of whom knew Officer Rose personally, or have gotten to know his family since—he used the word “target” to refer to Officer Rose. Not once did he mention CDC staff who were there that day, highlighting how little the leader of the federal department that encompasses CDC has worked to really engage with the humans involved in this tragedy.
He did say a few nice things: he gave kudos to CDC staff involved in the response to measles in South Carolina, and he called CDC staff “ambassadors for the rest of the world, showing the best of America.” (Quite a departure from the time he called CDC a “cesspool of corruption” or even in his congressional testimony from only four months ago when he said he was bringing in new leadership to help “get [CDC] back on track.”) Of course, he failed to mention that CDC staff are showing the best of America while the US government stands behind them cutting ties with the World Health Organization, destroying USAID, and dismantling key provisions of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), all of which send a very clear message to the rest of the world about what America thinks of them.
But that was basically the end of the nice things. Instead, he ranted about some of his favorite topics. One gem, to all the scientists in the room: “There are too many incentives to cheat on science,” he said, and complained about relying on drug manufacturers to fund trials (while failing to acknowledge his efforts to slash NIH funding and cut CDC’s budget, making it nearly impossible to do large-scale studies without manufacturer support). He also decried lack of transparency at CDC, calling it “shocking” how inaccessible databases are and going on to claim, “They’re all hoarding their own data.” He went on to lecture people in attendance about how starting in 1989 (unsaid: when ACIP changed the MMR to two doses in the U.S.) he has seen so many more people with autism and autoimmune diseases. Of course, he’s mad he can’t properly prove this link, because CDC staff have thus far resisted sharing sensitive vaccine data with political appointees wishing to twist it for these purposes. Oh and another favorite: “You can’t just trust a scientist, because scientists have biases, too.” Really nice words to commemorate such a painful time.
Here’s another good one: he told them CDC is the “spear tip for public outreach” but that people are scared of infectious diseases so they will “do whatever we say,” meaning “we have to remember this and protect their constitutional rights.” I can’t even. How do trans people feel about all the protection they’re getting? U.S. citizens with brown skin, being nonetheless picked up and detained by ICE? People being shot to death for videoing ICE actions? Holding someone in contempt of Congress for pleading the 5th? Need I go on? There has never been an administration (or Congress, apparently) less concerned about protecting constitutional rights. Get out of here.
To top it all off, interim CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya—always happy to be in the spotlight—referred to “Doctor Rose” not once but twice in his own remarks. Sure, maybe just a clumsy misspeak (twice) but it gave away how impersonally he’s thought of this murdered police officer. He also joked about being excited to be fired from his job as Acting Assistant Pain in the Ass now that Erica Schwartz has been confirmed as CDC Director, and he no longer has to serve in that capacity while also leading NIH. Really? They made multiple jokes about being fired, in a room full of people who’ve been devastated by RIFs: people who know and love people who have been fired for no reason, and who are trying to keep doing their jobs while they work in teams with multiple vacancies they’ve been prohibited from hiring for, despite their work being fully funded by Congress (at the dismay of the executive branch).
Extra points to whomever thought it was appropriate to give interim director Bhattacharya a proper sendoff by standing up in the hallways grotesque, larger-than-life cutouts of him looking like a WWF wrestler, and thanking him for “stepping into the ring for public health.”
As someone described on social media, “they’re all having one big party,” while memorializing a man who was murdered on the CDC campus for trying to provide safety and security to the scientists inside. If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see that Wrestler Bhattacharya is literally smiling with his big muscles and short shorts in front of a TV screen broadcasting the family of the slain officer, brought there like props.
For a year, RFK Jr. released no official statement about the shooting. He made no effort to actually speak to—or listen to, of course—the dedicated people who spend their days working hard at CDC with their heads down, eyes casting sideways glances at the empty chairs and desks where their beloved colleagues used to sit, wondering if they’ll be next. And now he comes for a photo op, parades the dead man’s daughter around, tells the stricken audience that “you can’t just trust a scientist,” and laughs while his interim lackey Jay Bhattacharya jokes about wanting to be fired.
This is, quite frankly, disgusting behavior. Shameful. Inexcusable.
At CDC, there is a memorial wall with the names of CDC staffers who died while working. At some point, Officer David Rose’s name was quietly added to the wall. There was no announcement, no ceremony for staff to attend. A friend of mine said to me, “I walk by it every day, otherwise I wouldn’t know.”
On Thursday, the day before RFK Jr’s visit, someone tucked a single rose behind his name on the wall. No photo op. No parading of family. Just a moment of silence, and a private acknowledgement of a man whose life was taken by a gunman who believed the exact things RFK consistently promotes.
This is a way to honor someone’s memory.
RIP, Officer Rose. May peace come to your family.