QuickTake:

A lawsuit filed by a Eugene-based organization against the Trump administration contends that “fast-tracked” new rules — including prohibitions against “unusual noise” — have been used to cite protesters at the federal building.

A lawsuit filed Friday, Dec. 5, seeks to block federal police from detaining, arresting and charging protesters at the federal building in downtown Eugene over “unusual noise” and other complaints.

The lawsuit states that “fast-tracked new rules” cited by authorities to protesters “are unconstitutional because they are vague and overbroad on their face.”

The Eugene-based Civil Liberties Defense Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of two protest leaders, Chloe Longworth and Anna Lardner, as well as others involved in frequent protests against activity involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Revisions made under the administration of President Donald Trump “greatly expand[ed] the prior regulations governing conduct on federal property” and were expedited to take effect Nov. 5, the lawsuit states.

On Nov. 18, federal police issued a citation to Longworth, the lawsuit states. While not all the words were legible on the citation, it appeared to state Longworth was cited for “unusual noise,” the lawsuit states.

“At the time she was on the city-owned public sidewalk exercising her First Amendment rights, including using a megaphone and stating her opinions regarding the lack of moral character exhibited by ICE agents,” the lawsuit states.

Federal police detained Longworth, seized “several” items from her and placed her in a detention cell before releasing her and, on Dec. 1, dismissing the citation, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also describes how on Nov. 25 Lardner was “threatened … with arrest for ‘unusual noise’ under the new regulations — the ‘noise’ being her First Amendment-protected speech, speaking to the public through a megaphone, from a public sidewalk.”

The lawsuit against Trump, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security alleges the new regulations provide “unfettered discretion to the government regarding how to interpret the regulatory language; do not give reasonable notice to people as to whether their conduct falls outside the bounds of the law; impose unreasonable time, place and manner restrictions; and purport to allow the government to detain, arrest, and cite people for protected First Amendment speech and expressive conduct.”