Daniel Uhlfelder, owner and founder of Daniel W. Uhlfelder, P.A., Attorneys at Law, plans to go to Florida beaches dressed as the Grim Reaper in protest of beaches opening “prematurely” and is donating the proceeds of “The Florida Grim Reaper Tour” to support Democrats like Phil Ehr, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) challenger.
“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 Santa Rosa Beach lawyer told his 121k Twitter followers this week.
“The answer is absolutely yes. Beginning May 1 we will hit the road here in state. Please retweet and spread the word,” he said, formally announcing “The Florida Grim Reaper Tour”:
“People aren’t getting the message, so I thought, well, what would really make the message of, ‘Hey, we’re prematurely doing this, and it’s a matter of life and death. Let’s take a pause’?” he said, according to People.
“There’s nothing really as direct of a symbol of death as the Grim Reaper, and this virus kills people with real regularity,” he continued.
“I’m a second-generation Floridian. I don’t want us to have the reputation of being idiots, but we’re getting that real quickly,” he added. “Not just being idiots, but being not very compassionate for human life.”
Photos of Jacksonville beachgoers went viral over the weekend after city officials reopened the coast with limited hours. Critics were quick to lambast beachgoers and leaders who allowed the beaches to reopen, pointing to images depicting hundreds of people enjoying the sun:
Uhlfelder, who founded the Make My Day PAC after battling former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) over public beach access versus private property rights in Walton County, is using the PAC, and his Grim Reaper publicity stunt, to raise money for Democrats:
Join us to help raise funds to distribute equally to Democrats running for federal office. They include, but are not limited to: the opponent of Matt Gaetz, Phil Ehr; and Christy Smith, who’s running in the special election in CA on May 12 to fill the vacancy caused by Katie Hill:
Notably, Uhlfelder sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in March, demanding he close the beaches across the state.
“I’m just trying to take all the steps to ensure our safety and trying to get creative about it,” Uhlfelder told NBC News.
“I’ve sued the governor. We’re in court with him. It looks like they’re rushing to do this, and it’s just too soon,” he added.