Federal judge weighs protester's request to limit how Las Vegas police issue dispersal orders and fire pepperballs

What happened

A federal judge in Las Vegas is considering whether to issue an injunction sought by a woman who is suing the Metropolitan Police Department after she was hit with pepperballs and arrested at a 2025 protest downtown, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon heard arguments Wednesday and said he would take them under advisement.

Attorneys for Kathleen Cavalaro asked the court for a broad order that would stop Metro from enforcing dispersal orders outside of boundaries the agency sets. It would also bar officers from firing pepperballs at anyone without evidence of a physical threat or if a target is engaging in "serious criminal behavior," according to court documents cited by the Review-Journal.

What the lawsuit claims

The June 2025 protest

Cavalaro first sued Metro in 2025, accusing the agency of violating her civil rights and fabricating evidence. Her claims stem from a June 11, 2025, protest against federal immigration enforcement outside the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. According to her complaint, Metro had declared the protests an unlawful assembly and issued a dispersal order hours before she arrived, and she said she was unaware of it.

Her account of the arrest

At Wednesday's hearing, her attorney, Stephen Stubbs, said she followed Metro's commands to leave but was still shot with pepperballs, which left bruises on her back and sternum. He said she was arrested after she cursed out officers and called them "fascists." The exact number of shots fired in her direction is still being debated, but Stubbs said he counted 47 trigger pulls.

Why she says she needs a court order

Her lawyers argue that Metro's past alleged unlawful actions and violations of department policy have left her unable to protest without fear. The injunction seeks to "remedy the chilling effect" on her First Amendment rights, the Review-Journal reported. Stubbs said Cavalaro has tried to go to other protests but has developed anxiety, which he said is why she needs assurances she can exercise her rights without fear of reprisal.

Comparisons to 2020

Stubbs compared the 2025 incident to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, when protesters were also shot in the back with pepperballs. Metro revised its protest policies after 2020, but Stubbs said the agency failed to follow its own rules and has once again made changes. He questioned whether the latest changes are adequate to address infringements on residents' First Amendment rights and whether Metro would follow them.

Metro's defense

A revised protest policy

Daniel McNutt, an attorney representing Metro, defended the department's policy revisions, saying protesters get several warnings before enforcement escalates. The new policy also says orders must be given 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, arguing that past conduct would have to be continuing, unabating and causing harm for Cavalaro to have standing. He said that since the 2025 anti-ICE protests, Metro has documented more than 200 "protests" and has not issued any dispersal orders or fired any pepperballs. Stubbs countered that the data showed Metro's policies had yet to be tested.

What the judge said

Gordon told Cavalaro's legal counsel that existing case law prevented the court from granting broad injunctions that reach beyond people immediately involved in the case, and he 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.

The case is one of several suits involving Metro covered by the Review-Journal, including a separate claim that delayed jail medical treatment led to a man's leg amputation. More policing coverage is in our public safety section.

What to watch next

• Whether Judge Gordon grants an injunction after taking Wednesday's arguments under advisement.
• Whether Cavalaro's attorneys narrow their request to cover only her, as the judge asked.
• How Cavalaro's 2025 civil rights lawsuit against Metro proceeds, including the disputed number of pepperball shots fired toward her.