A Rhode Island prosecutor is facing mounting scrutiny after she was arrested for trespassing — and caught on bodycam threatening police officers, demanding they shut off their cameras, and invoking her political power in an attempt to avoid charges.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Hogan Flanagan, a Democrat, was taken into custody Thursday night outside the Clarke Cooke House restaurant in Newport. According to police, Flanagan and her friend, Veronica Hannan, refused to leave after the restaurant called in an “unwanted party.”
What happened next has stunned both law enforcement and the public.
“Turn Off Your Bodycam”
Newport police bodycam footage shows Flanagan trying to leverage her position as a state prosecutor to intimidate officers.
“I want you to turn your bodycam off. Protocol is that you turn it off. It’s a citizen request,” she demanded.
Officers, clearly frustrated, pushed back. One officer asked a restaurant staff member if the women should be removed.
“Anything we can do. Trespass, yes, cuff them, please,” the host replied.
Flanagan, however, continued to insist she wasn’t trespassing.
“I’m an AG!”
The video shows Flanagan repeatedly warning officers they would “regret it” if they didn’t comply.
“I’m an AG. I’m an AG,” she shouted, before an officer snapped back:
“Good for you. I don’t give a (expletive). Let’s go.”
Moments later, as Flanagan was shoved into the back of a cruiser, she screamed one last threat:
“Buddy, you’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it. I’m an A—”
Her words were cut short as the officer slammed the door shut.
“Bull— Lawyer Stuff”
Throughout the arrest, Flanagan’s friend Hannan defended her, telling officers: “She’s a (expletive) lawyer. So she knows.”
The cops weren’t buying it.
“Well, that’s bull (expletive) lawyer stuff. So that’s not true,” an officer snapped back.
According to the police report, Flanagan was “immediately uncooperative, questioning our authority and demanding I turn my body camera off.”
AG’s Office in Damage Control
The fallout was swift.
A spokesperson for the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office said Flanagan’s demands to shut off police bodycams violated statewide policy, which only allows such requests for crime victims and witnesses — not for prosecutors trying to avoid accountability.
“Ms. Flanagan has been employed with the Office for approximately seven years,” the AG’s office said in a statement. “The Office immediately began a review of the incident, which we anticipate will conclude within the next few days.”
Attorney General Peter Neronha addressed the scandal Tuesday morning on talk radio, saying Flanagan had not yet been placed on leave but admitting a “strong sanction” was likely.
That sanction, he said, could include a suspension without pay if she is allowed to remain employed.
Bodycam Policy Clear
According to Newport Police Department policy, officers are not required to turn off cameras simply because someone asks. Consent is not needed for public recording.
Yet Flanagan continued to press, demanding over and over that officers stop filming her arrest — an insistence that may now cost her both her job and her law license.
Legal Trouble Ahead
The emails and statements reviewed by local outlets suggest prosecutors may have little choice but to sanction Flanagan.
Already, critics are blasting what they call blatant “abuse of power” and a dangerous example of political privilege in action.
As of Monday night, Flanagan appeared briefly in court, where she was charged with trespassing.
She now faces not only possible criminal penalties but also professional consequences from the Rhode Island Bar and Attorney General’s Office.
The Bottom Line
A prosecutor who once wielded authority over others now finds herself in the defendant’s seat — after her own words were used against her.
On bodycam, she threatened, “You’re gonna regret this.”
Now, it’s her career that may pay the price.
