Parts of the United States are in the early stages of reopening after stay-at-home orders related to the coronavirus pandemic have been gradually lifted. Beaches in Florida are once again open to the public, a subject of fierce debate, and one lawyer elected to protest the decision, dressing as the grim reaper in a symbolic move that was captured on a local newscast.

As Walton County beaches along Florida's Emerald Coast reopened, WMBB News 13 was on the scene to highlight the activity. Littered among the local citizens and others from nearby areas who flocked to the sandy retreat was one disgruntled resident, lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder, who was cloaked in black, brandishing a scythe prop, to signify one potential and tragic outcome that could be a result of the uptick in social activity.

In the newscast, anchorwoman Faith Graham handed the microphone to the costumed lawyer as he explained, "I'm here today to try to make a point that we need to — I think 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 that 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 and I think that we should take better measures. We're drawing people from all over the world to our beautiful beaches. It's too soon and it's not appropriate."

Watch the news clip below.

Per Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center, Florida has the eighth-highest total of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country. Over 1,300 deaths have been attributed to the virus in the panhandle state at press time.

Grim Reaper Protests Florida Beach Reopening on Local News

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