Judge weighs injunction request by protestor suing Las Vegas police

A federal judge is mulling whether to grant an injunction that seeks to “remedy the chilling effect” on the First Amendment rights of a woman suing the Metropolitan Police Department after she was shot with pepperballs and arrested during a 2025 protest in downtown Las Vegas.

Attorneys for Kathleen Cavalaro had sought a broad injunction from the court to stop Metro from enforcing dispersal orders outside of boundaries it sets, as well as shooting pepperballs at anyone without evidence of a physical threat or if a target is engaging in “serious criminal behavior,” according to court documents.

Cavalaro’s attorneys have argued Metro’s past alleged unlawful actions and violations of department policy have created a scenario where she cannot exercise her right to protest without fear.

However, Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon advised Cavalaro’s legal counsel that existing case law prevented the court from granting broad injunctions that extend beyond those who are not immediately involved in the case and asked them to limit their request to their client.

“I’m not sure what granting an injunction is going to do other than require them to enforce the law,” Gordon said while noting he would take all the arguments Wednesday under advisement.

Cavalaro initially sued Metro in 2025, accusing the agency of violating her civil rights and fabricating evidence, after she joined a protest against U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement on June 11, 2025, outside the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas.

Hours before Cavalaro arrived at the protest, Metro had declared the protests an unlawful assembly and issued a dispersal order, which Cavalaro said she was unaware of, according to Cavalaro’s legal complaint.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Cavalaro’s attorney, Stephen Stubbs, said she followed Metro’s commands to leave but was shot with pepperballs, leaving bruises on her back and sternum, and then arrested after she cursed out officers and called them “fascists.” While the exact number of shots fired in Cavalaro’s direction is still being debated, Stubbs said he counted 47 trigger pulls.

Stubbs said Cavalaro had attempted to go to other protests but had developed anxiety, prompting the need for assurances she could peacefully exercise her rights without fear of reprisal.

Stubbs said the 2025 incident was similar to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, where protesters were also shot in the back with pepperballs. While Metro revised its protest policies after the 2020 incident, Stubbs said the agency failed to follow its own rules and has once again made changes. However, he questioned whether they were adequate to address infringements on residents’ First Amendment rights and whether Metro would follow them.

“I would love to trust them,” Stubbs said. “We don’t.”

Daniel McNutt, an attorney representing Metro, defended the agency’s policy revisions, noting that Metro will give protesters several warnings before escalating their enforcement. The new policy also indicates orders must be given out based on time, conduct and context.

“Literally, we have a more robust policy than the law requires,” McNutt said.

McNutt also questioned the validity of a broad injunction, saying past conduct would have to be continuing, unabating, and causing harm for Cavalaro to have standing.

He noted that since the 2025 anti-ICE protests, Metro had documented more than 200 “protests” and had not issued any dispersal orders or fired any pepperballs.

Stubbs countered by saying that the data showed Metro’s policies had yet to be tested.

Contact Devan Patel at [email protected].