Following Deadly CDC Shooting, Blumenthal Demands Kennedy-Appointed ACIP Member be Fired Over Violent & Threatening Posts; Reiterates Call to Restore Expert Vaccine Advisory Panel

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today called on U.S. Department Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to fire Dr. Robert Malone, a recently appointed member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), for his violent and incendiary rhetoric in the wake of the recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta. The shooting, took the life of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, continues to be under investigation as early reports suggest that the gunman was motivated by his misinformation-fueled belief that his depression and suicidality were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine

In a letter to Kennedy, Blumenthal demanded Dr. Malone’s removal and condemned his unfathomable failure of judgment and heartlessness toward the family of slain Officer Rose and for the thousands of CDC staff on whom the work of ACIP depends. Blumenthal also urged Kennedy to restore the 17 qualified experts he had fired from ACIP who had worked to uphold the panel’s commitment to transparency and scientific independence.

Blumenthal wrote, “Just hours before a police officer was brutally murdered and CDC headquarters would be scarred with bullets, forcing hundreds employees into lockdown, Dr. Robert Malone, whom you recently appointed to ACIP, uploaded a post to his personal blog that included an image of a revolver loaded with a single bullet and the words ‘Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless.’ Less than 48 hours after the attack, Dr. Malone issued a meme-filled post that included violent and threatening images that appeared to be directed at government officials, writing, ‘if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.’”

“Law enforcement officers and public health officials already face serious risks in their work protecting the public. Those risks are heightened by ideologically motivated attacks, which send a chilling message about the normalization of violence in public discourse. A federal agency must absolutely avoid even the appearance of legitimating such statements by keeping in a position of power someone who makes them,” Blumenthal continued.

Blumenthal pointed out the harms associated with Kennedy’s efforts to undermine ACIP’s work by replacing qualified members with conspiracy theorists and purveyors of misinformation, “Last week’s profound tragedy shows the harms that result from replacing science with zealotry – not only the increased risk of disease, but also ideologically motivated violence. Appointing Dr. Malone and retaining him in this role would seem to legitimate incendiary rhetoric and dangerous misinformation.”

“I sincerely hope that last week’s attack will demonstrate to you what should have been obvious from the beginning: Dr. Malone has no business being on ACIP, and the firings you ordered to put him there should never have occurred,” Blumenthal concluded.

The full text of Blumenthal’s letter is available here and below.

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

On August 8, 2025, a gunman opened fire on the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), killing DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose and leaving public health workers at the CDC and around the nation fearing for their safety after years of increasing threats following the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] While the investigation is ongoing, early reports suggest that the gunman, who fired nearly 500 rounds during the attack, was motivated by his misinformation-fueled belief that his depression and suicidality were caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.^[2]

Just hours before a police officer was brutally murdered and CDC headquarters would be scarred with bullets, forcing hundreds employees into lockdown, Dr. Robert Malone, whom you recently appointed to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), uploaded a post to his personal blog that included an image of a revolver loaded with a single bullet and the words “Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless.”^[3] Less than 48 hours after the attack, Dr. Malone issued a meme-filled post that included violent and threatening images that appeared to be directed at government officials, writing, “if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.”^[4]

Dr. Malone has displayed an unfathomable failure of judgment and heartlessness for the family of slain Officer Rose, and for the thousands of CDC staff on whom the work of ACIP depends. Dr. Malone’s escalating and violent rhetoric—including in the aftermath of this tragic incident—has no place on a panel responsible for determining immunization recommendations for children and adults throughout our country. I therefore call on you to immediately fire Dr. Malone from his role on ACIP.

The shooting of a police officer in the line of duty is not only a criminal act—it is an assault on the stability and safety of our communities. Law enforcement officers and public health officials already face serious risks in their work protecting the public. Those risks are heightened by ideologically motivated attacks, which send a chilling message about the normalization of violence in public discourse. A federal agency must absolutely avoid even the appearance of legitimating such statements by keeping in a position of power someone who makes them.^[5]

Your response must begin with the immediate firing of Dr. Malone, but should rightly include restoring the entire ACIP panel that existed before it was decimated last June. At that time, you replaced 17 sitting members, whose qualifications and expertise were unchallengeable, with conspiracy theorists and purveyors of misinformation. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about these firings, you lamented that, without your actions, “the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028.”^[6] Your comment shows how thoroughly the Trump Administration has confused independent scientific guidance with its own whims, and betrays a fundamental ignorance of ACIP’s role as an apolitical panel with members appointed by multiple Presidents for overlapping terms. Indeed, for most of the Biden Administration, a majority of ACIP members were appointed during the first Trump Administration.^[7] As the 17 members you fired noted in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, ACIP’s commitment to transparency and scientific independence have historically made “the decisions and deliberations of this committee a beacon for immunization programs globally.”^[8] Unfortunately, because of your actions, its credibility has been shredded.

I sincerely hope that last week’s attack will demonstrate to you what should have been obvious from the beginning: Dr. Malone has no business being on ACIP, and the firings you ordered to put him there should never have occurred.

Sincerely,

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