Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon arrested at Trump rally

Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon’s civil rights lawsuit against Nevada’s Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and multiple officers was dismissed by a federal appeals court on June 12, 2025, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

In April 2017, Solomon was documenting a rally outside of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas for local CBS affiliate KLAS-TV. He was on a sidewalk outside a mall across the street when mall security guards demanded that he leave. Police then arrested him for trespassing and obstruction of an officer. Those charges were later dropped.

In April 2019, Solomon filed a federal civil rights suit against the Las Vegas police and the mall security company, arguing that he had the right to film on a public sidewalk and that the security guards and police officers violated the First, Fourth and Fourteenth amendments.

In November 2023, the U.S. District Court in Nevada ruled in favor of the police, maintaining that it was reasonable for the officers to order Solomon away from the sidewalk outside the mall, and to arrest him when he refused. Solomon appealed the ruling.

In June 2025, two judges on a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed the lower court’s order, ruling that the officers’ attempts to move Solomon off the mall sidewalk were reasonable and that they had probable cause to arrest him for trespassing.

In a partial dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez wrote that a jury should consider whether Solomon’s First Amendment rights were violated, as he had a First Amendment right to film on the mall sidewalk, a public forum, and was a journalist covering a public event.

Sanchez also wrote that Solomon had reason to claim First Amendment retaliation because there was evidence he might have been arrested for challenging the officer over whether the sidewalk was private property.

Solomon’s attorneys did not respond to an inquiry from the Tracker on whether they plan to appeal again.

Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon’s civil rights lawsuit against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and multiple officers was dismissed by a judge on Nov. 9, 2023. Solomon filed an appeal a month later.

Solomon was arrested in April 2017 while documenting a rally outside of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas and held by police for approximately eight hours. The charges against him — trespassing and obstruction of a police officer — were ultimately dropped.

According to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, District Judge Cristina Silva ruled that there had been no violation of Solomon’s constitutional rights and granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

Solomon appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Dec. 11, 2023, and the case will be heard in the spring of 2024.

Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon filed a federal civil rights and First Amendment lawsuit against the Las Vegas police, among others, alleging violations of due process and unlawful search and seizure.

According to Lincoln Journal Star, Solomon's attorney Margaret McLetchie said on April 17, 2019, that Solomon was doing his job on a public sidewalk when he was detained.

Further review of the lawsuit in December 2021 showed that the Clark County District Attorney’s Office had declined to pursue criminal charges against Solomon. The Tracker has changed the status of his charges from “unknown” to “dropped.”