RI prosecutor threatens cops to shut off body cameras
Rhode Island Prosecutor Threatens Cops, Demands Bodycams Off During Arrest
A Rhode Island prosecutor, Devon Hogan Flanagan, was arrested for alleged trespassing outside the Clarke Cooke House restaurant in Newport.
During the incident, caught on bodycam footage, Flanagan told police, “I want you to turn your bodycam off.
Protocol is that you turn it off.
It’s a citizen request.” Officers refused, and one host at the restaurant said, “Trespass, yes, cuff them, please.”
As officers tried to escort Flanagan and her friend Veronica Hannan away, Flanagan insisted, “We’re not trespassing. You haven’t notified us that we’re trespassing.” She repeatedly cited her job, saying, “I’m an AG,” to which an officer responded, “Good for you. I don’t give a (expletive). Let’s go.”
“You’re going to regret it,” she warned as she was placed in the cruiser.
According to officials, her demands to stop recording go against state policy and only apply to crime victims or witnesses.
