NEWPORT, RI – The arrest of a Rhode Island assistant attorney general earlier in August has resulted in the prosecutor at the center of the incident being placed on unpaid leave, as the bodycam footage of the incident quickly went viral due to the prosecutor in question appearing to leverage her position over the officers trying to uphold their duties.
Following the viral August 14th arrest of Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, the Rhode Island Attorney General's office has confirmed that her once-bestowed paid leave has since transitioned to an unpaid leave effective August 25th.
While the AG’s office hasn’t explicitly detailed why Flanagan’s paid leave will be transitioned into unpaid leave, it can be inferred that the virality of the bodycam footage in tandem with the public backlash to Flanagan’s behavior captured on camera likely influenced the decision.
During the original incident leading to Flanagan’s arrest, Newport Police were dispatched to an area restaurant at approximately 10:00 p.m. on August 14th in response to a group of rowdy patrons that the establishment wanted to trespass.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were greeted by what appeared to be a visibly intoxicated Flanagan alongside a group of “college friends,” as described by one of the members of her party.
In the video of the encounter, Flanagan immediately begins telling the officers, “I want you to turn your bodycam off, protocol is that as a citizen request is to turn it off,” with Flanagan’s female friend – who would also find herself in cuffs later in the footage – chiming in to tell the officers, “She’s a lawyer.”
Flanagan continues to make futile demands for the officers to turn off their bodycams, while officers on scene can be observed ordering Flanagan and her party that they’re being trespassed and need to leave the premises.
After exhausting numerous assertions that the officers need to comply with her order to turn off their bodycams, Flanagan and her cohorts seen in the footage begin citing how Flanagan is an attorney general.
After continued attempts to invoke her position as an attorney general, Flanagan found herself being detained in cuffs following ostensible acts of passive resistance to the officers’ orders.
After being cuffed and placed into the backseat of a cruiser, Flanagan makes what many have perceived to be threats against the officer’s job, telling the officer, “Buddy, you’re going to regret this – you’re going to regret it. I’m an AG,” before having the cruiser door summarily shut in her face.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha appeared on a radio show after Flanagan’s arrest went viral earlier in August, admitting that his employee’s conduct seen in the footage is embarrassing and worthy of repercussions.
“I've got 110 lawyers; she embarrassed all of them. I haven't had many issues like this while I've been attorney general,” AG Neronha stated during the interview before foreshadowing that Flanagan could potentially keep her job when he recalled, “I've had a few, and I let one guy go for driving drunk - had to bring him back - well I didn't have to, but did bring him back after I fired him, about a year later, because, again, I needed somebody to go into a courtroom and try ugly, hard murder cases.”
AG Neronha asserted during the interview, “It's just really hard to find and keep capable lawyers and so I just have to think really carefully about this one,” when tackling the topic of whether Flanagan’s conduct seen in the bodycam footage is worthy of termination, but assured listeners that there’s “no question there will be a strong, strong sanction here.”
The Rhode Island attorney general maintained that Flanagan, who has been with the office for nearly seven years, holds an “unblemished” record and is held in high regard by the state bar association, a notion that seems somewhat contradictory when AG Neronha admitted that Flanagan was completely inept with regard to her bold claim seen on video that police officers have to turn off their bodycams when requested by citizens.
“I’m not sure what she was thinking,” AG Neronha said of the confident assertions Flanagan made about bodycams during her encounter with Newport Police, adding, “Clearly, she was not thinking straight.”
Regardless of the outcome pertaining to Flanagan’s employment status, the Rhode Island AG concluded, “she’s going to have a long time coming back from this. It’s just really unfortunate.”
Flanagan was charged with willful trespass, along with her friend taken into custody during the incident. Officials noted the second woman arrested is also facing additional charges, including resisting arrest.
Following the viral August 14th arrest of Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, the Rhode Island Attorney General's office has confirmed that her once-bestowed paid leave has since transitioned to an unpaid leave effective August 25th.
While the AG’s office hasn’t explicitly detailed why Flanagan’s paid leave will be transitioned into unpaid leave, it can be inferred that the virality of the bodycam footage in tandem with the public backlash to Flanagan’s behavior captured on camera likely influenced the decision.
During the original incident leading to Flanagan’s arrest, Newport Police were dispatched to an area restaurant at approximately 10:00 p.m. on August 14th in response to a group of rowdy patrons that the establishment wanted to trespass.
When officers arrived on the scene, they were greeted by what appeared to be a visibly intoxicated Flanagan alongside a group of “college friends,” as described by one of the members of her party.
In the video of the encounter, Flanagan immediately begins telling the officers, “I want you to turn your bodycam off, protocol is that as a citizen request is to turn it off,” with Flanagan’s female friend – who would also find herself in cuffs later in the footage – chiming in to tell the officers, “She’s a lawyer.”
Flanagan continues to make futile demands for the officers to turn off their bodycams, while officers on scene can be observed ordering Flanagan and her party that they’re being trespassed and need to leave the premises.
After exhausting numerous assertions that the officers need to comply with her order to turn off their bodycams, Flanagan and her cohorts seen in the footage begin citing how Flanagan is an attorney general.
After continued attempts to invoke her position as an attorney general, Flanagan found herself being detained in cuffs following ostensible acts of passive resistance to the officers’ orders.
After being cuffed and placed into the backseat of a cruiser, Flanagan makes what many have perceived to be threats against the officer’s job, telling the officer, “Buddy, you’re going to regret this – you’re going to regret it. I’m an AG,” before having the cruiser door summarily shut in her face.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha appeared on a radio show after Flanagan’s arrest went viral earlier in August, admitting that his employee’s conduct seen in the footage is embarrassing and worthy of repercussions.
“I've got 110 lawyers; she embarrassed all of them. I haven't had many issues like this while I've been attorney general,” AG Neronha stated during the interview before foreshadowing that Flanagan could potentially keep her job when he recalled, “I've had a few, and I let one guy go for driving drunk - had to bring him back - well I didn't have to, but did bring him back after I fired him, about a year later, because, again, I needed somebody to go into a courtroom and try ugly, hard murder cases.”
AG Neronha asserted during the interview, “It's just really hard to find and keep capable lawyers and so I just have to think really carefully about this one,” when tackling the topic of whether Flanagan’s conduct seen in the bodycam footage is worthy of termination, but assured listeners that there’s “no question there will be a strong, strong sanction here.”
The Rhode Island attorney general maintained that Flanagan, who has been with the office for nearly seven years, holds an “unblemished” record and is held in high regard by the state bar association, a notion that seems somewhat contradictory when AG Neronha admitted that Flanagan was completely inept with regard to her bold claim seen on video that police officers have to turn off their bodycams when requested by citizens.
“I’m not sure what she was thinking,” AG Neronha said of the confident assertions Flanagan made about bodycams during her encounter with Newport Police, adding, “Clearly, she was not thinking straight.”
Regardless of the outcome pertaining to Flanagan’s employment status, the Rhode Island AG concluded, “she’s going to have a long time coming back from this. It’s just really unfortunate.”
Flanagan was charged with willful trespass, along with her friend taken into custody during the incident. Officials noted the second woman arrested is also facing additional charges, including resisting arrest.
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Comments
2025-08-26T17:07-0400 | Comment by: Dawn
So... according to the actual AG, there's a shortage of lawyers, so it's okay if one of them goes off the rails like this, breaks the law while falling down drunk, lies repeatedly about what the law says, AND makes threats against police officers who are doing their jobs (with far more patience than I would've had with this pair of idiots). Got it.
2025-08-29T19:24-0400 | Comment by: James
She needs to be fired! Also, the people of RI need to take a very close look at Mr. Neronha! If he thinks a drunk AG is OK to rehire and this insult of the AG office is OK he is part of the problem!!!