2 minute read
Outlook Grim
The Grim Reaper is now stalking Florida beaches.
By Colin Wolf
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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 on Friday he was 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 take better measures. It’s drawing people from all over the world to our beautiful beaches. It’s too soon and it’s not appropriate.”
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.
In an interview with CNN, Uhlfelder said. “We aren’t at the point now where we have enough testing, enoughdata, enough preparation for what’s going to be coming to our state from all over the world from this pandemic.”
The cable news channel also said the lawyer’s campaign is also an effort to donate to the campaigns of Democratic candidates: Phil Ehr, running against incumbent Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who wore a gas mask on the House floor during the vote on the coronavirus stimulus package; and ChristySmith, who’s running for former Rep. Katie Hill’s seat in California.
There’s even a music tour-style T-shirt supporting the effort. The swag has seven beach towns listed on the back—Clearwater, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Daytona Beach andDestin—and is available for $30 on dem. store.
But not everyone’s a fan of Uhlfelder. On Sunday, he posted a picture and video of the Grim Reaper getting the cops called on him.
“This is a way in which I can convey the message that this virus is a deadly virus and that we need to think about this and take some time before we jump into these types of things,” Uhlfelder told USAToday. “This is a symbol of how serious this situation is.”
As of Friday, Florida’s Department of Health says the state has 34,728 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 1,314 deaths.
