Federal Judge Bars Las Vegas Police From Using Pepperballs on One Protester
A federal court in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, issued a limited injunction on October 31 barring the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department from firing pepperballs at one specific protester unless she becomes assaultive or presents an immediate threat to public safety.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon issued the injunction in a case brought by protester Kathleen Cavalaro. The order applies to her individually; it is not a department-wide ban on pepperballs. In his ruling, Gordon criticized how officers handled the protest, writing that officers hit Cavalaro in the back with a pepperball while she was complying with an order to leave, followed her down the sidewalk as she kept walking away, zip-tied her and arrested her. He also wrote that Metro "does not appear to adequately recognize the wrongfulness of the officers' conduct."
Cavalaro was among thousands who rallied in downtown Las Vegas in June 2025 against the federal government's immigration enforcement tactics; more than 100 people were arrested, and the city attorney's office later chose not to prosecute 90 of them, including Cavalaro. Another woman arrested that day has reached a $325,000 settlement with the department, the newspaper reported. Metro's response to the injunction had not been reported as of the story's posting, and the case is still developing.
(Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：拉斯维加斯都会警察局巡逻车。Noah Wulf 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department patrol vehicle. By Noah Wulf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
