WASHINGTON, Aug 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Hundreds of current and former 
employees of US health agencies on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump's 
health secretary of putting them at risk by spreading false information.

In an open letter, the federal officials criticized Secretary Robert F. 
Kennedy Jr. -- a noted vaccine skeptic -- nearly two weeks after an armed 
attack on the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC), the main US health agency.

A gunman who blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for sickening him targeted several 
buildings at the Atlanta-based CDC on August 8, killing a police officer.

The attack "was not random," the signees of the open letter said, pointing to 
"growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that 
has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of 
villainization -- and now, violence."

Kennedy, who has repeatedly aired false information about vaccines and 
slammed the agencies he heads as corrupt, was accused of fueling the 
mistrust.

Kennedy "is complicit in dismantling America's public health infrastructure 
and endangering the nation's health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health 
information," the open letter said, imploring the health chief to change his 
stance.

Since taking office, the nephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy has 
made numerous pronouncements that run counter to scientific consensus, 
particularly about vaccines.

This shift toward vaccine skepticism has been denounced by many experts. A 
petition calling on Congress to impeach Kennedy had gathered more than 12,600 
signatures as of Wednesday.

The latest open letter from US civil servants, many of whom signed 
anonymously, comes on the heels of other similar texts backed by federal 
employees denouncing actions of the Trump administration.

Taking such a step was not without risk: nearly 140 staffers at the 
Environmental Protection Agency who spoke out publicly were placed on leave 
in last month.