Rhode Island prosecutor under review after warning 'you're gonna regret this' during arrest

A Rhode Island prosecutor is under review after police body camera footage recorded her warning officers “you're gonna regret this” while she was being arrested.

Devon Flanagan, a special assistant attorney general, was arrested outside a restaurant by Newport police Aug. 14 for trespassing, according to law enforcement.

Body camera footage provided by the police department shows Flanagan asking an officer multiple times to turn off his body camera and then repeatedly saying “I'm an AG.”

The footage shows the officers approaching someone from the restaurant and asking if “they want them trespassed." The person clasps his hands and responds saying “Trespass, yeah. Cuff 'em, please.”

When the officer says Flanagan and the individuals also with her are trespassing, the attorney says "We’re not trespassing, you haven’t notified us that we’re trespassing.”

“What did I just say to you? You’re trespassing,” says the officer, who is not identified in the video.

“I'm an AG. I'm an AG,” Flanagan later says.

“Good for you," the officer says and then an expletive.

Eventually, Flanagan is put in a patrol vehicle and says, “Buddy, you’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it.”

According to the Attorney General's office, Flanagan has worked for the state's top legal office for nearly seven years and is currently assigned to the criminal division's appellate unit.

A spokesperson for the attorney general said the office was reviewing the incident and declined to comment further, citing personnel reasons.

During an interview with WPRO on Tuesday, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Flanagan was “going to take some steps” to address the arrest, which include an apology to Newport police, but said no decision had been made regarding discipline.

"Look, she’s put me in a bad position. She’s embarrassed herself, humiliated herself, treated the Newport Police Department horribly,” Neronha said.

“I’ve got 110 lawyers. She embarrassed all of them, in a sense,” he added.

In an image taken from police body camera footage, Newport Police officers interact with Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, in red, and her companions after restaurant representatives indicated that they did not want them on their premises, an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

In an image taken from police body camera footage, a Newport Police officer pulls handcuffs into view to arrest Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, in red, after restaurant representatives indicated that they did not want her and her companions on their premises, an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

In an image taken from police body camera footage, Newport Police officers interact with Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, in red, and her companions after restaurant representatives indicated that they did not want them on their premises, an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

In an image taken from police body camera footage, Newport Police officers interacting with Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, in red, and her companions after restaurant representatives indicated that they did not want them on their premises, an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

In an image taken from police body camera footage, a Newport Police officer handcuffing Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan, in red, after an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

In an image taken from police body camera footage, a Newport Police officer closes the door of a cruiser with the detained Rhode Island Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan after an encounter that ended with officers detaining Flanagan on trespassing charges, Aug. 14, 2025, in Newport, R.I. (Newport Police Department via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday as tensions remained high with the United States over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m.

Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation because Iran is located on a key East-West route for airlines.

“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”

Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.

The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on Thursday afternoon.

U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.

In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the U.S. to find a solution through negotiation.

Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”

The change in tone by the U.S. and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.

Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Demonstrators burn a poster depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, in Holon, Israel Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A woman mourns next to the flag-draped coffins of a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, during their funeral ceremony, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man hands out posters of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a funeral ceremony for a group of security forces, who were killed during anti-government protests, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People take part in a rally in support of anti-government protests in Iran, Berlin Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Policemen protect the British Embassy during a protest by hardline supporters of the Iranian government, as people ride on their motorbike in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)