A man who harassed Florida beach goers while dressed as the grim reaper has joined the state’s Attorney General race. Daniel Uhlfelder, a Florida lawyer, gained notoriety for dressing up as the grim reaper in order to hype up the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uhlfelder spent the early months of the pandemic dressing up as the grim reaper and appearing on Florida beaches. After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis refused to close beaches in the state, Uhlfelder began dressing up in his costume to encourage people to stay home.
“When I was watching thousands of people dying from this deadly pandemic, I put on a costume to encourage people to stay home,” Uhlfelder said in a statement. “Because when people are being oppressed, or left out, or made to feel like their lives don’t matter, it’s not in my DNA to let it slide.”
In addition to dressing up as the grim reaper, Uhlfelder handed out body bags on Florida beaches. “This coming weekend I am providing free crowdfunded body bags to Florida beachgoers,” Uhlfelder wrote in a tweet.
We are out providing free body bags to beachgoers today pic.twitter.com/kQd09uFFEC
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) May 26, 2020
In addition to his grim reaper activism, Uhlfelder has long been involved in “social justice” causes. Just over a month after handing out body bags, he participated in the George Floyd protests. At the protests, the Florida grim reaper was shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow leftist activists.
The Northwest Florida lawyer announced his candidacy in a two-minute Twitter video on Tuesday. In the video, he spotlighted his Jewish heritage and referenced his past activism, as well as some high-profile clashes with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. “The Nazis tore my family apart. My great-grandparents were killed in the concentration camps,” Uhlfelder said in his announcement video. “Growing up my parents never let me forget it. They immersed us in social justice and introduced us to politicians who actually stood up for what was right.”
Today I am announcing my candidacy for Attorney General in Florida. Ron DeSantis and his sidekicks in Tallahassee have been warned. pic.twitter.com/i15q0zAoEN
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) March 8, 2022
Uhlfelder will be aiming to unseat Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican.