‘Mystere’ Clown Jailed as Part of Las Vegas ICE Protest

• Las Vegas police arrested 94 anti-ICE protestors in downtown on Wednesday
• Jimmy Slonina, a performer in “Mystere,” was among those arrested
• Slonina says he was coming from a show at a nearby venue and wasn’t part of the protests

When police rounded up 94 anti-ICE protestors in downtown Las Vegas and carted them off to jail Wednesday night, they included Jimmy Slonina, who plays an usher/clown in Cirque du Soleil’s “Mystere” at Treasure Island.

Slonina was a sad clown because, his family claims, he was not part of the protest, but only exiting a show at the nearby Cheapshot entertainment space and crossing the street to Slonina ARTSpace, the gallery they own at 901 E. Fremont St.

Nevertheless, he was arrested and booked into the Las Vegas Detention Center, where he spent more than 16 hours in a holding cell with 14 other people.

When he asked what he was being arrested for, they said ‘failure to disperse,’ even though he wasn’t involved in any protests and never heard or knew about a disbursement order,” Slonina’s wife, Robin, posted to her Facebook account.

“He showed them the keys in his hand to the ARTSpace door across the street (with his name on the door!) and no one would listen,” she wrote.

Slonina was released at 3:45 p.m. Thursday but is due back in court to face charges of unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, according to his wife.

“The protest was declared an unlawful assembly after protesters failed to obey lawful orders,” according to a press release from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “Violent actions included protesters throwing water bottles and rocks at LVMPD officers. Several roadways were also blocked by protesters.”