A lawyer has dressed up in a Grim Reaper costume to tour Florida’s beaches to raise awareness of the fatal impact of re-opening America too quickly in the middle of a pandemic.
Daniel Uhlfelder, an attorney, began a tour of the US state’s beaches on Friday dressed as Death himself in protest at what he sees is the premature relaxation of social distancing measures to tackle coronavirus.
Florida is one of several states that have begun to ease back on restrictions despite having recorded its highest single-day death toll this week.
The Stanford-educated trial lawyer, 47, said in a tweet before his campaign: “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. The answer is absolutely yes.
“Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state. Please retweet and spread the word.”
And the advocate’s shock tactics appeared to be winning plaudits on social media after an interview with a local TV station.
He explained to Panama City ABC affiliate WMBB: “I’m here today to try to make the point that it’s premature that we open our beaches.
“I’m a huge proponent of public beaches, and I’ve been fighting for that for years, but I think the danger of bringing all the people here to our area and spreading the virus ... I think it’s going to prolong the recovery we have.”
In March, Uhlfelder donned a Hazmat suit to visit Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ mansion to ask him to close the state’s beaches.
When he was denied a meeting, he filed a lawsuit seeking the closure. While his suit was dismissed, DeSantis did ultimately close them.
Some 1,268 coronavirus-linked deaths have been recorded in Florida out of more than 65,000 in the US.