Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
Earlier the judge had agreed to extend his original deadline for federal government to remove fencing.
Updated with courthouse developments throughout the day and with comment from the Civil Liberties Defense Center.
A judge has extended by eight days his intitial 48-hour deadline for the General Services Administration to remove temporary fencing at the Eugene Federal Building.
But an emergency motion filed by government attorneys seeks a stay on the judge’s order before the expected arrival of heavy equipment later this week.
“Defendant GSA must begin removing the perimeter fence by July 1, 2026, and the fence must be fully removed by July 2, 2026, at 7:00AM,” said court records from a Wednesday, June 24, morning hearing, presided over by U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai.
Kasubhai ordered the morning hearing after attorneys representing the General Services Administration on Tuesday requested the deadline be extended 11 days to July 5.
In a separate filing Tuesday, the federal government also submitted a notice that they plan to appeal Kasubhai’s Monday order. Kasubhai granted a preliminary injunction to activists who in a lawsuit have said a barrier blocking off most of the site’s plaza infringes on their rights of free speech and assembly.
Wednesday morning, Kasubhai also denied a request from the federal government for a stay pending their appeal.
Then, on Wednesday afternoon, government attorneys filed a six-page emergency motion to appellate court judges asking them to “grant an immediate administrative stay” until 14 days after a written order from Kasubhai, which had yet to be published as of Wednesday afternoon.
The motion lays out a timeline for fence removal, and asks for a stay before work begins.
The General Services Administration “plans to begin receiving heavy equipment to take down the security fence” Friday, June 26, though work would not start until Monday, June 29, pending receipt of a permit from the city of Eugene. The project would then be completed June 30.
The motion asked for the stay to give government attorneys more time to prepare a motion for a stay pending their appeal.
A videoconference status conference is set for 9 a.m. July 2 to “discuss the status of compliance,” according to minutes from the Wednesday hearing.
Kasubhai on Monday had ordered that the fencing be removed within 48 hours, meaning the deadline was Wednesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Blum, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Tsechu Dolma, in a Tuesday court filing, said: “Permitting and final scheduling of the contractors could take up to 11 days.”
In the deadline extension request, the attorneys wrote that the federal General Services Administration is working with the city of Eugene “to block portions of Pearl and 7th Street” for fence removal from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
“Finally, Federal Protective Services and Eugene Police Department would need to coordinate to ensure a safe work environment for contractors,” the attorneys wrote.
The attorneys said it may take up to 10 days for permitting, and then, after the permit is received, another day to schedule contractors.
A right-of-way permit application filed Wednesday, June 24, with the city of Eugene requests closure of one lane of Pearl Street and one lane of Seventh Avenue, as well as sidewalk closures. The application remained pending Wednesday afternoon.
During a two-day evidentiary hearing before Kasubhai’s order, the federal government called the fence a countermeasure to property damage that occurred during protests.
A building manager for the site also described plans for additional changes, such as “hardened glazing” planned for windows near the interior courtyard lobby entrance, but no timetable was given for when the work might start.
In granting the preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the Eugene-based Civil Liberties Defense Center, Kasubhai cited citizens’ rights to free speech and assembly in an area active for decades as an space for protest and demonstrations.
Six activists alleged the fence, blocking off most of the plaza and leaving a corner section of the site’s plaza open to the public, infringes upon the rights of people looking to exercise their rights of free speech and assembly.
“We appreciate the court’s continued emphasis on the extremely high value of first amendment rights at the free speech plaza compared to the minimal burden placed on the government to take down an unconstitutional temporary barricade fence,” Lauren Regan, director of litigation and advocacy for the Civil Liberties Defense Center, said in a statement after Wednesday’s morning hearing.
Kasubhai, also Monday, had authorized some fencing could be put up. He presented attorneys with a diagram he marked by hand, showing a fence line stretching mostly along the interior wings of the main building.
