WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — Decisions about opening beaches in our area are being made now. One Florida attorney thinks it’s too soon. In a now viral Twitter post he made only one day ago, he promises to travel around the state dressed as the ‘Grim Reaper’ to protest beaches opening up prematurely during the coronavirus pandemic.
His name is Daniel Uhlfelder, and he says sometimes you have to do drastic things to get people’s attention. Last month, he filed a lawsuit against Governor Ron DeSantis in an effort to get him to close Florida beaches and issue a stay at home order. This time, he’s promising to wear a Grim Reaper costume to beaches starting May 1st to send a message that this is not the right time to reopen them.
“This is not a wise thing to do right now. I would love to got o the beach myself, there’s nothing I enjoy more than going to the beach, but in this situation I think it’s going to create a problem with drawing people to our area prematurely,” said Uhlfelder.
He says there’s no one who supports our beaches more than he does, but right now they need to remain closed because when they open back up, people from all around the U.S. will flock this way.
“In this pandemic we’ve been working to try to do the right thing and not rush to have people come to Florida and have this virus spread. My concern is that the progress that we’ve made could possibly quickly diminish,” said Uhlfelder.
So Tuesday, he started a Twitter campaign with his plan to visit beaches and other places in Florida he feels should remain closed for now– dressed as the Grim Reaper.
“The symbol of a Grim Reaper is a reality check as to what we’re dealing with here. I understand the pressure to do this. It’s a big part of our economy but this virus is deadly and it’s very contagious and I think we need to be thinking through,” Uhlfelder said.
He says medical experts he’s spoken with in the Walton County area say beaches being closed has definitely helped flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases. He tells Cherish Lombard that he doesn’t have the answer as to when beaches should reopen; he thinks time will tell.
“Medical providers, doctors, they’re the ones who are on the front lines who know what could happen if we overflood our system and from my communications with them is that it’s too soon at this point,” Uhlfelder said.
During his travels, Uhlfelder is raising money to support congressional candidates who he feels are doing the right thing for our country. You can read about that here: https://www.makemydaypac.com/
At the time this story was published, his Twitter post had more than 48-thousand likes and 16-thousand retweets, and counting. He says he hasn’t yet decided where his Grim Reaper message will begin on may 1st, but he will let us know, and we will let you know when he does.
You can follow Daniel Uhlfelder on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw
LATEST STORIES:
