AAAS is alarmed by calls for violence against Dr. Anthony Fauci or any other public health servant. We are beyond concerned that public figures are resorting to aggressive attacks on our public health officials to enflame passions rather than engendering respectful discourse on science.
To be clear, calls for violence are unacceptable, and the real-life consequences could curtail frank scientific advice for a generation.
We understand that there is significant frustration and fatigue due to the events of the past two years, but if we are to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, we need the expertise and evidence-backed recommendations of our public servants and scientists.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For additional information about AAAS, see www.aaas.org.