Video: Watch Florida Politician Make Racist Comments To Hispanic Teen

A politician in Sarasota, Florida, is under fire for comments he directed at a pair of Latino teens at a tennis club.

Martin Hyde, a candidate for the Sarasota City Commission, was caught on video in a confrontation with a 15-year-old Puerto Rican, who was playing tennis at the Bath & Racquet Club. In the video, the teen says Hyde told him to “go cut grass.”

In the video, Hyde at first denies making the comment but when pressed by the two teens, he responds: "Yes. So what?"

The video gained traction when it was posted Friday to Twitter.

“That’s racism, man. How can you say something like that?” the teen asks in the video. “Aren’t you human?”

Hyde replies, “This is a private club. Get out.” Hyde then attempts to stop the person who is recording the scene.

Hyde also can be heard saying, "I don't know what drugs they are on" and at one point tells them to "shut up."

He also said the teens should "call the Chief of Police. She knows me." Sarasota's Chief of Police is Bernadette DiPino.

The teen’s uncle, Javier Irizarry, said the teen was there to take part in a junior tennis tournament.

Hyde has reportedly been banned from the club following this incident.

Hyde later denied making any racist remarks but admitted to handling the situation poorly. He claims that the players were making too much noise and disrupting a lesson his son was having. Despite initially saying he might consider dropping out of the local election, Hyde has now confirmed that he will continue running.

On Tuesday, Hyde admitted in an interview that he did make the "go cut grass" remark.

“I haven’t had anyone condone my poor behavior and I’m not without regret for it myself,” Hyde wrote in an email to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “That having been said I agree with those that have said the best form of redemption might be a public one.”

Hyde in 2017 mounted a failed bid for City Commission seat.