Police have released body camera footage from the night a Rhode Island assistant attorney general was arrested for allegedly trespassing in Newport last week.
Officers were called late Thursday to 24 Bannister’s Wharf after receiving reports of customers refusing to leave.
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan was arrested, according to the R.I. Attorney General’s Office. She was issued a court summons on a willful trespass charge.
As officers approached, Flanagan pointed at one of them and said, “I want you to turn your bodycam off. Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests that you turn it off.”
“She’s a lawyer. She’s a lawyer,” another woman added.
An officer attempted to deescalate the situation, telling the pair: “So they want you guys to leave? Let’s just leave. Let’s just make it easy, OK?”
Flanagan, however, argued that police policy required body cameras to be turned off at her request.
Restaurant staff told officers they wanted the women removed.
“Do you guys just want them out?” an officer asked. “Do you want them trespassed?”
“Anything we can do,” a staff member responded. “Trespass? Yeah. I just need them out. Please.”
Police then warned Flanagan and the other woman they were trespassing and could face arrest if they refused to leave.
“We’re not trespassing. You haven’t notified us that we’re trespassing,” Flanagan argued.
“What did I just say to you? You’re trespassing … I don’t want to arrest you guys,” the officer replied.
“You’re not gonna arrest us,” Flanagan said, repeatedly identifying herself as an attorney general.
When handcuffs were brought out, she continued: “I’m an AG. I’m an AG. What are your probable cause to detain me for?”
She was then placed in the back of a cruiser, telling police: “You’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it.”
The second woman was also arrested.
The R.I. Attorney General’s Office told 12 News it is reviewing the matter, but declined to provide further comment, citing personnel issues.
