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'You know who I am?': Video footage shows GOP House candidate Martin Hyde insulting cop

'You know who I am, right?' Martin Hyde, the Republican congressional candidate, told the police officer

During a traffic check on Valentine's Day, Republican congressional candidate Martin Hyde was captured on a body camera assaulting and abusing a police officer. Martin Hyde, who is running for office in Florida, told Sarasota police officer Julia Beskin that she was "making career decisions" by pulling over Hyde. However, the police offer eventually cited Hyde for speeding, failure to present a valid registration, and texting while driving.

Video footage published on social media shows that the police offer is approaching Hyde's vehicle after pulling over. She tells him that she stopped him because he was traveling 57 mph in a 30-mph zone. Hyde replied to the police, "you don't need to point at me, officer. I’ll just call the Chief. You know who I am, right?” She admits that she knows him and subsequently discloses his name while speaking with her dispatcher. "Hyde is being extremely uncooperative", Beskin informed the dispatcher, adding she had just given him three tickets.

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The police offer was later insulted by the Republican congressional candidate because she is an immigrant. He questioned her, “is it your Russian immigrant status that makes you talk to people like this?” According to Mediaite, Beskin is a native of Latvia who speaks English and Russian fluently. Hyde repeatedly accused her of lying and demanded that she contact her supervisor to come out to the scene. He added, “do you think you’re winning? Do you? You’re talking to a congressional candidate like this?” Other cops eventually arrived on the scene. "We're going to make sure she pays the price for being disrespectful,” he warned one cop.

According to Yahoo News, Hyde later responded to the event with a comment on his Facebook page. He wrote, “just over a week ago I was stopped in Sarasota for speeding. During the stop, I was belligerent and rude to the officer who stopped me. Much interest has been shown in local media and many comments made as to my behavior. I’m not going to justify my poor temper on that day or attempt to mitigate it in any way. There will be some who will say it’s not the first time I’ve acted out and they’d be right. I have faults and one of them is to be overly aggressive on occasion when I’m challenged. In the political arena that is possibly a good thing but on a personal level it’s not. I’ve apologized to the officer in question, and now I’m apologizing to the community as a whole. I’m going to do my utmost to behave better going forward. I’m not running away though as that’s not in my nature. There is nothing more I can say or will say on this subject other than I’m sorry for any offense caused to anyone."