Police in Newport, Rhode Island, have released body-worn camera footage showing the arrest of a state prosecutor who now faces a trespassing charge after an incident late last week at a popular restaurant in the area.

On Thursday night, Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan was arrested outside 24 Bannister’s Wharf following an incident with the restaurant staff where they asked her and a friend to leave. The bodycam footage shows Flanagan going back and forth with the authorities and a the staff in a tense argument that the police do everything they can deesculate.

As officers approached, Flanagan pointed to one officer and demanded he turn off his camera. “Protocol is that you turn it off if a citizen requests that you turn it off,” she said. Another woman, standing beside her, added: “She’s a lawyer. She’s a lawyer.”

Police policy does allow cameras to be turned off in certain situations, including when witnesses or victims ask not to be recorded. But the guidelines emphasize that discretion lies with officers, not the subjects of an investigation.

The footage shows officers trying to de-escalate. “So they want you guys to leave? Let’s just leave. Let’s just make it easy, OK?” one officer said. Restaurant staff confirmed they wanted the pair out, with one worker pleading: “Anything we can do. Trespass? Yeah. I just need them out. Please.”

Flanagan pushed back, saying she had not been formally notified she was trespassing. “What did I just say to you? You’re trespassing … I don’t want to arrest you guys,” an officer replied.

“I’m an AG. I’m an AG,” Flanagan insisted as the officer reached for handcuffs. “What are your probable cause to detain me for?” She was placed in the back of a cruiser, warning police: “You’re gonna regret this.”

The other woman was also arrested.

The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office has confirmed Flanagan’s arrest and said the incident is under review. Officials declined to provide further comment, citing personnel rules.

For now, Flanagan has been summoned to court on a charge of willful trespass, a misdemeanor that may carry penalties but is far from the high-profile felony cases she was more accustomed to handling from the other side of the courtroom.

It’s a case that raises questions about authority, accountability, and how quickly lines blur when those who enforce the law find themselves in conflict with it.