There’s a running gag on social media that involves googling the words ‘Florida man’ plus your birthday. 

Nine times out of ten, it will pull up a ludicrous headline like ‘Florida Man Asks Walmart Employee For ‘Anything That Would Kill 200 People’.

A few years from now, a bored schoolboy might google ‘Florida Man’ + August 13, and pull this article right up. Only this time, it’s no ordinary man but a county sheriff making headlines for his antics.

CNN reports that Sheriff Billy Woods has released marching orders that wearing of face masks will not be tolerated inside his office in Marion County.

This order extends not just to Woods’ deputies, but even to visitors entering the sheriff’s office.

‘Not Up for Debate’

As pointed out by Gizmodo, this is a strange decision to make in the middle of a health crisis that’s proving difficult to control.

“Effective immediately, any individual walking in to any one of our lobbies (which includes the main office and all district offices) that is wearing a face mask will be asked to remove it,’ Woods wrote.

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Both scientists and government officials around the world are in agreement that face masks help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Worse, The Sunshine State just recorded 277 new deaths on Tuesday, 13 of which were from Marion County. This is a fresh record for daily deaths in Florida.

Woods is unfazed, though.

“We can debate and argue all day of why and why not,” he added. “The fact is, the amount of professionals that give the reason why we should, I can find the exact same amount of professionals that say why we shouldn’t.”

What For?

According to The New York Times, the purpose behind Woods’ strange declaration is to foster better communication between law enforcers and authorities.

Apparently, he thinks face masks are getting in the way. Additionally, Woods believes the anti-police sentiment ringing loudly across the country right now might be putting his men in danger.

“In light of the current events when it comes to the sentiment and/or hatred toward law enforcement in our country today, this is being done to ensure there is clear communication and for identification purposes of any individual walking into a lobby.”