Florida politician criticized for racist remarks against young Puerto Rican tennis players
(Photo : pixabay.com)

A Twitter video featuring a Puerto Rican tennis player accusing Sarasota Republican Martin Hyde of racism for telling him to "cut grass" and "speak English" circulated online.

The said video was posted by Alvin Couto de Jesus, a Puerto Rican attorney who got the video from the Puerto Rican tennis player's uncle, Javier Irizarry, who is also an attorney.

In an interview with NBC News, Irizarry said that his 15-year-old nephew was invited to play in the Casely International Championship last week hosted by Bath & Racquet Club at the Celsius Tennis Academy in Sarasota, Florida.

According to Irizarry, his nephew was practicing Tuesday and while in the middle of a conversation with friends, he was approached by Hyde, a candidate for the Sarasota City Commission.

Irizarry said that this was his first time his nephew experienced this kind of incident, being a competitive high school tennis player who plays regularly outside of Puerto Rico.

In the video, Irizarry's nephew, who Irizarry did not idedtify for safety reasons, and his friends confronted the politician for his racist remarks and banishing them from the Celsius Tennis Academy.

"You're telling me to cut grass because I'm Hispanic. That's racism, man; how can you say something like that? Aren't you human?" the Puerto Rican tennis player said in the video.

These remarks were then responded by Hyde with, "Yes, so what?"

The Puerto Rican tennis player and his friends tried to report the incident to the staff at the academy, while Hyde denied the allegations.

"Look at these agitated ... I don't know what drugs they're on," Hyde told the staff. He also dared the accusers to call the chief of police, who Hyde said knows him.

Despite this, Irizarry said they don't plan to sue Hyde, they just wanted to bring awareness to the public that these incidents still happen today. He added, he already I explained to his nephew that Hyde represents only a small minority and that his behavior was not normal.

Meanwhile, an interview with NBC News, Hyde denied the allegations of racism, but said he regrets his "boorish and inappropriate behavior" because he and his family have been receiving death threats following the incident.

Celsius Tennis Academy director Cary Cohenour said in an interview that although the academy was not directly involved in the incident, they denounce acts of racism.

Hyde was also removed as a club member of the Bath & Racquet Tennis Club.

Former Republican candidate for Florida state Senate Peter Vivaldi, a Puerto Rican, is among the many Latinos who condemned Hyde's actions.

"If you're a public figure ... you run for everybody, you represent everybody. This is not what we want to represent any party and less do we want that in the state of Florida, where when we're talking about Puerto Ricans that are American citizens," Vivaldi commented on the Twitter video.

He added, whether politicians are Republican or Democrat, if they say things that are not appropriate, there is a need to call them out.