City of Las Vegas pays $20,000 to settle claim that a jail officer preached a sermon to ICE protest detainees

What happened

The City of Las Vegas has agreed to pay $20,000 to settle a claim against a city corrections officer accused of using religion to intimidate people held at the Las Vegas City Jail, KTNV reported. The claim stems from arrests at the June 2025 ICE protest in downtown Las Vegas. The portion of the case involving the officer was settled on Oct. 7.

KTNV noted that earlier payouts to protesters from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department totaled nearly half a million dollars. This settlement is different because it involves the city directly rather than Metro police.

The settlement and the jail sermon

What the lawsuit alleges

Protester Kathleen Cavalaro filed a federal lawsuit that accuses City Corrections Officer Bernabe Ibarra of delivering a six-minute religious sermon to detainees even after she tried to opt out. According to KTNV, jail security video she obtained through the lawsuit shows Ibarra delivering the sermon, though the footage has no audio. The suit also says the city kept her in custody at least nine more hours despite a Las Vegas Municipal Court order requiring protesters to be released on their own recognizance.

Cavalaro's account

Cavalaro told KTNV that approximately 100 people were placed in holding cells in rooms that were over capacity and were held close to 24 hours. She said about 20 detainees were released together and seated at tables, where the officer began preaching and brought in a jail chaplain and two church volunteers. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I was uncomfortable and did not want to participate, but it happened anyway," she said.

She described the message as saying the detainees had misbehaved and should go home and pray, and that continuing to protest could put them on a path to prison. "I think that using Jesus as a weapon against people in custody is harmful," Cavalaro told KTNV.

The city's response

Cavalaro received an offer of judgment from the city, which described it as "not an admission of liability" but "an offer of compromise," KTNV reported. The city declined an on-camera interview and would not make Ibarra available. According to KTNV, the city has no policy addressing religious sermons delivered by corrections officers to inmates, and Ibarra remains employed as a city corrections officer.

How the protest arrest unfolded

Cavalaro attended the protest carrying a sign that read "Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself." Court records cited by KTNV say officers fired 48 pepper balls at her, and that one officer shot her in the back while she was following orders and walking away. She was zip-tied, arrested and taken to the city jail.

Her federal lawsuit names LVMPD, the City of Las Vegas and individual officers. It accuses one officer of falsifying the arrest declaration by backdating the time and moving the location into the dispersal zone to support a failure to disperse arrest. The city declined to prosecute, and no charges were filed. Cavalaro cannot discuss that part of the case because it remains pending.

Civil liberties concerns

Nevada ACLU executive director Athar Haseebullah told KTNV that protests are likely to increase and that aggressive law enforcement responses risk putting agencies in unnecessary legal jeopardy. When local police are not the target of a protest but respond harshly, he said, "they will unnecessarily make themselves a part of the story." More coverage of local policing is in our public safety section.

What to watch next

• The remaining portion of Cavalaro's federal lawsuit against LVMPD, the city and the officers is still pending.
• The city has no policy addressing religious sermons by corrections officers to inmates, according to KTNV.
• Ibarra remains employed as a city corrections officer, and the city has declined to make him available for interviews.