At “Sound Science Saves Lives” Protest, Atlantans Sound Alarm Over Federal Cuts, Misinformation, Deadly CDC Shooting

This story was originally published by The Xylom. Subscribe to The Xylom’s newsletter here.

A week after a deadly shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rattled the nation, Atlanta residents flooded the streets again Saturday morning to protest against the Trump administration’s research cuts and promotion of public health misinformation. 

Gathering in Midtown Atlanta at the intersection of Peachtree and 10th Streets, protesters held signs and chanted, “Don’t believe the lies! Science saves lives!” As with past rallies reported by The Xylom, protesters directed their ire at U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has frequently promoted baseless conspiracy theories about the safety of mRNA vaccines; last week, he slashed over $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development for partners such as Atlanta’s Emory University. Such misinformation is believed to have influenced the CDC shooter, Patrick Joseph White, who blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for his depression and suicidal ideations.

“We planned this protest many months ago before the attack on [the] CDC even happened,” said Aryn Backus, an organizer with Fired but Fighting, a coalition of current and fired Health and Human Services (HHS) employees. “But after [Patrick Joseph White] fired 500 rounds at the CDC because he believed in misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, we felt it was even more important to come out and protest because it’s not just the budget cuts. It’s the misinformation and the lies that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is spreading.”

Before Backus was terminated from her position as a health communication specialist at the CDC’s Office of Smoking and Health in February, she worked on programs such as the Tips from Former Smokers campaign, which showcases stories for people who have been affected by smoking. Her office also had strong existing partnerships with the Asian Smokers’ Quitline, which offers services and resources in Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Korean, in addition to Smoke Free Chinatown, which did events in Chinatowns across the U.S. to promote anti-smoking messages.

Backus is worried about the future of public health programs serving Asian Americans. “The Asian Smokers’ Quitline receives a lot of funding from the CDC; with the Office of Smoking and Health gone, we’re not sure if that Quitline will be able to fill in the funding gaps that CDC left.”

Organizers estimated the total number of protesters to be roughly 300-500. Apart from fired CDC workers like Backus, other attendees included researchers, health professionals, labor organizers, and concerned citizens. 

Dr. Irene Yang is a Korean American and Canadian registered nurse. She is also a health researcher who looks into oral health and its relationship to the rest of the body. Although she emerged unscathed from funding cuts, many of her colleagues were not as fortunate. 

“Constant cutting of good science is eventually just gonna erode all of the progress that we made in terms of disease treatments and interventions and public health,” she said.

Dr. Jill Penn agrees with Yang’s sentiment. An Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Georgia Gwinnett College and Treasurer of United Campus Workers Southeast, a union that represents all the higher education employees in the Southeastern United States, she serves one of the most diverse counties in the country, including the largest Asian population by far in the state of Georgia. 

“A lot of my students are applying for graduate school and professional programs; many of them have done all the right things […]their four or five years of college,” she said. “And then they apply to do something that they’ve loved their entire life, working in the field of science, and all of a sudden it just doesn’t exist anymore.”

“It’s like the world’s been turned upside down. It’s unrecognizable from what this country was one year ago,” she lamented.

As with previous public rallies around science, public health, and democracy, no City of Atlanta officials or Atlanta City Councilmembers are present. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and all Atlanta City Councilmembers are up for reelection this November; the qualifying period for Atlanta municipal elections begins Aug. 19th. However, two suburban Democratic candidates vying for statewide office in 2026, Georgia Sens. Jason Esteves and Josh McLaurin, joined protestors. 

“We need state leaders to stand up and fight for our public health workers and to protect them from what is nothing short of domestic terrorism,” said Esteves, who is aiming to become the first Afro-Latino to be elected Governor of Georgia. Running on a platform of recruiting healthcare providers who are from those communities they serve, fully expanding Medicaid, and establishing clinics all across the state, Esteves faces a crowded primary field that includes former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, and Georgia Rep. Derrick Jackson, among others. (McLaurin is currently unopposed in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor.)

The rally wrapped up peacefully at around noon without any incidents or counterprotests. Participants vow to keep fighting and voicing their opposition.

“I think a lot of times scientists might want to just put their head down and try to do what they can within their sphere. I think it’s really important for us as Americans to speak up and speak out,” said Yang. “I hope my fellow Asian Americans, whether they’re in science or healthcare, will also speak out. I know that they recognize the danger.”