PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island state prosecutor was put on unpaid leave for six months after she was captured on police body camera footage warning one of the officers who were arresting her on a trespassing charge that he was “gonna regret it.”
Special Assistant Attorney General Devon Flanagan was given the punishment Monday. It stemmed from her Aug. 14 trespassing arrest outside of a restaurant in Newport, the state attorney general, Peter Neronha, said Tuesday.
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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)
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 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, 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)
“We hold our attorneys to the highest personal and professional standards, and Ms. Flanagan plainly did not meet those standards here,” Neronha said in a news release.
Neronha met with the officers involved in Flanagan's arrest on Monday and apologized, said Tim Rondeau, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. Flanagan also sent apology letters to the individual officers, he said.
Flanagan and a friend were arrested after they were asked to leave the Clarke Cooke House and refused, according to police.
The police footage shows Flanagan asking an officer multiple times to turn off his body camera and then repeatedly saying “I’m an AG.”
It 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 people who were with her are trespassing, she 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.
Eventually, Flanagan is put in a patrol vehicle and says, “Buddy, you’re gonna regret this. You’re gonna regret it.”
In Rhode Island, a conviction for misdemeanor willful trespass is punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. It is unclear whether, if convicted, Flanagan would still be able to work in the attorney general's office.
Flanagan's attorney, Kevin Hagan, declined to comment.
In his statement announcing Flanagan was placed on leave, Neronha said he hopes she reflects “on the seriousness of her conduct and makes corrective changes in her life.”
“She has a long road ahead of her, but I believe that in the long run, our worst moments can inspire us to become better people,” he said.
According to the attorney general’s office, Flanagan has worked for the state’s top legal office for nearly seven years and was assigned to the criminal division’s appellate unit at the time of her arrest.
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)
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 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, 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)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head.
Smoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”
Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there.
Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities. Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.
Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday's shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a person from Venezuela who was in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
Earlier Wednesday, a judge gave the Trump administration time to respond to a request to suspend its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, while the Pentagon looked for military lawyers to join what has become a chaotic law enforcement effort in the state.
“What we need most of all right now is a pause. The temperature needs to be lowered," state Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said during the first hearing in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Local leaders say the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights with the surge of law enforcement. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez gave the U.S. Justice Department until Monday to file a response to a request for a restraining order.
Justice Department attorney Andrew Warden suggested the approach set by Menendez was appropriate.
The judge is also handling a separate lawsuit challenging the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal officers when they encounter protesters and observers. A decision could be released this week.
During a televised speech before Wednesday's shooting, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
CNN, citing an email circulating in the military, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is asking the military branches to identify 40 lawyers known as judge advocate general officers or JAGs, and 25 of them will serve as special assistant U.S. attorneys in Minneapolis.
Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson appeared to confirm the CNN report by posting it on X with a comment that the military “is proud to support” the Justice Department.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking more details.
It’s the latest step by the Trump administration to dispatch military and civilian attorneys to areas where federal immigration operations are taking place. The Pentagon last week sent 20 lawyers to Memphis, U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said.
Mark Nevitt, an associate professor at Emory University School of Law and a former Navy JAG, said there's concern that the assignments are taking lawyers away from the military justice system.
“There are not many JAGs but there are over one million members of the military, and they all need legal support,” he said.
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
There are many causes of internal bleeding, and they vary in severity from bruising to significant blood loss. Video from the scene showed Ross and other officers walking without obvious difficulty after Good was shot and her Honda Pilot crashed into other vehicles.
She was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.
Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been deeply criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment on any injuries.
Good’s family, meanwhile, has hired a law firm, Romanucci & Blandin, that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.
The firm said it would conduct its own investigation and publicly share what it learns.
Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego, Rebecca Santana in Washington, Ed White in Detroit, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis and Graham Lee Brewer in Oklahoma City contributed.
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
