A Florida lawyer is now roaming Florida’s beaches to make the point that this is all a terrible idea.
Last month, Santa Rosa Beach attorney Daniel Uhlfelder announced that he would protest Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to allow the state's beaches to begin reopening, and today he’s in Walton County doing exactly what he said he would do.
“I think it's premature that we open our beaches,” said Uhlfelder to WMBB’s Brady Calhoun, dressed completely as the angel of death.
“I'm a huge proponent of public beaches and I've been fighting for that for years,” he continued. “I think it's going to prolong the recovery we have, and I think that we should takes better measures. It’s drawing people from all over the world to our beautiful beaches. It's too soon and it’s not appropriate.”
holy shit pic.twitter.com/rVw24plXTp
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) May 1, 2020
Uhlfelder first announced his Grim Reaper stunt back on April 21.
“Many of you have asked if I am willing to travel around Florida wearing Grim Reaper attire to the beaches and other areas of the state opening up prematurely,” he said in a Twitter post. “The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state.”
Uhlfelder has been a vocal advocate of keeping Florida’s beaches public. Last year, he sued to make private beaches in the Panhandle public, specifically a patch of sand near Mike Huckabee’s beach house.
So far, Uhlfelder hasn't said where and exactly how long his Grim Reaper will continue. But there are certainly some beaches opening in Tampa Bay over the next few weeks.
As of Friday, Florida's Department of Health says the state has 34,728 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 1,314 deaths.
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This article appears in May 7-13, 2020.