Toronto police have issued an apology after a police officer warned a passerby he could get AIDS from someone they were arresting.

The unnamed officer from 51 Division was caught on video by Waseem Khan, who had been recording video of an arrest by police near Dundas St. E. and Dalhousie St. After multiple warnings to stop filming, the officer told Khan the man they were arresting, “was going to spit in your face, you’re going to get AIDS.”

In a series of tweets released Wednesday night, Const. Victor Kwong wrote, “@TPS51Div officer’s comment simply wrong. You cannot get HIV/AIDS from spit.”

He continued that the division will bring in an expert to educate their officers, and a professional standards investigation is underway.

Kwong later told The Star he tweeted the apology because “it was the right thing to do.”

Khan’s video was taken Tuesday, as multiple police officers arrested and Tasered an unnamed man, who later faced multiple charges. As Khan took the video, one of the arresting officers directed another officer to “get that guy out of my face, please.”

Khan continued to record the interaction as two officers approached him. The first officer, a female, warned that if he was a witness, they would seize his cell phone. The second officer, a male, countered with the comment that Khan was going to “get AIDS . . . stop recording or I am going to seize your phone as evidence.”

The video has since been widely shared on social media.

Speaking to the officer’s warning to seize his cell phone, police spokesperson Mark Pugash described the incident as a “teaching moment.”

“Let me be clear: we have told our officers if somebody is videoing them and they are not obstructing and interfering, they have every right to film,” Pugash said Tuesday.

Khan, a 32-year-old letter carrier, was with his wife and child in the area, when the incident took place. He later said the most troubling aspect was the comment about the man being arrested and AIDS.

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