On March 20th, during an Okeechobee County commissioner emergency meeting to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Okeechobee County Commissioner Bryant H. Culpepper demonstrated gross incompetence through disseminating false information and endangering the public. Commissioner Culpepper encouraged the injurious acts of blowing hair dryers to the face to kill the COVID-19 virus. 

Culpepper stated, 

“One of the things that was pointed out in this interview with one of the foremost doctors who has studied the coronavirus said that the nasal passages and the nasal membranes are the coolest part of the body. That’s why the virus tends to go there until it then becomes healthy enough to go into the lungs."

“This sound really goofy, and it did to me too, but it works,” he explained. “Once the temperature reaches 136 degrees Fahrenheit, the virus falls apart, it disintegrates."

“I said how would you get the temperature up to 136 degrees? The answer was you use a blow dryer. You hold a blow dryer up to your face and you inhale through your nose and it kills all the viruses in your nose."

“So that sounds like a really simplified way of doing things, but sometimes the cures for these diseases are very simple" (Lake Okeechobee News 2020). 

These remarks have been denounced by public health professionals and according to the World Health Organization website, hair dryers are not effective in killing the COVID-19 virus.

Additionally, during a March 17th meeting, Culpepper recommended using ozone to kill the COVID-19 virus stating, 

“My son has discovered something that is totally a game changer,” he said. “There is a website online and those of you that hunt … there is a device that hunters use because deer can smell the scent of a human, and they do that because of the bacteria."

“What they have developed is a small device, nano ozone, that you wear on your clothing and it actually sends out an ozone vapor that goes approximately three meters completely around your body. Any type of virus, coronavirus, whatever virus you choose, regular cold virus, can be killed by this ozone."

Commission Chair Terry Burroughs urged the public to get their medical information in regard to the coronavirus from the Centers for Disease Control, the Florida Department of Health, or their own health care provider (Lake Okeechobee News 2020). 

Culpepper's comments demonstrate his gross incompetence and his lack of regard for the health and safety of Florida residents in the midst of a global emergency. This petition is to urge Florida State Governor Ron DeSantis to immediately remove Commissioner Culpepper from office under Florida Statue Title X Chapter 112 Section 51: Municipal officers; suspension; removal from office.