Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is investigating whether antidepressants can be linked to homicidal ideation after a mass shooting in Minneapolis.
While appearing on Fox & Friends Thursday morning, Kennedy was asked whether he planned to examine the drugs used by the shooter, who authorities identified as transgender. Host Brian Kilmeade appeared anxious for Kennedy to link the shooter’s medical transition to the deadly incident which killed two children.
“We’re launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor] drugs, and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence. You know, many of them have black box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation,” Kennedy replied.
RFK Jr on the mass shooting in Minnesota: “We’re launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.” pic.twitter.com/e2HSIMuUwy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 28, 2025
As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy has suggested that the people who take antidepressants—some 11 percent of the population—are more likely to become school shooters. In January, Kennedy said that the National Institutes of Health needed to study SSRIs and video games as potential causes of increased gun violence, dismissing actual guns as a potential cause.
One 2015 study published by the National Library of Medicine, which is run by the NIH, found that “antidepressants should not be denied to either adults or adolescents due to a presumed risk of homicidal behavior.”
Minnesota Senator Tina Smith slammed Kennedy’s comments in a post on X Thursday.
“I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don’t kill kids, antidepressants do,” she wrote. “Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired.”
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