Judge weighs injunction request by protestor suing Las Vegas police

A federal judge is weighing whether to grant an injunction sought by Kathleen Cavalaro, who is suing the Metropolitan Police Department over her treatment during a June 2025 protest against U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement outside the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. Cavalaro's attorneys asked Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon to broadly restrict how Metro issues dispersal orders and deploys pepperballs, arguing the agency's past conduct has chilled her First Amendment rights.

During a hearing Wednesday, Cavalaro's attorney, Stephen Stubbs, said his client followed police commands to leave but was unaware a dispersal order had been issued hours earlier. He said she was shot with pepperballs — counting 47 trigger pulls — leaving bruises on her back and sternum, then arrested after she cursed at officers. Stubbs said the incident mirrors 2020 Black Lives Matter protests where demonstrators were also struck in the back, and he questioned whether Metro's subsequent policy revisions are adequate or will be followed.

Judge Gordon expressed skepticism about a broad injunction extending beyond the parties in the case, noting existing case law limits such relief. "I'm not sure what granting an injunction is going to do other than require them to enforce the law," Gordon said, adding he would take the arguments under advisement.

Metro attorney Daniel McNutt defended the department's updated policies, which require multiple warnings before enforcement escalation and mandate that orders be based on time, conduct and context. "Literally, we have a more robust policy than the law requires," McNutt said. He also argued Cavalaro lacks standing for a broad injunction because past conduct must be continuing and unabating to warrant such relief.

Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal