"Demand accountability": Idaho woman seeks $5M in damages after being dragged from GOP town hall
An Idaho woman who was dragged from a Republican town hall in Coeur d'Alene in February plans to sue the county sheriff and private security firm responsible for her upsetting removal.
Teresa Borrenpohl filed a tort claim in Kootenai County on Monday, announcing her intention to bring a lawsuit against Sheriff Bob Norris and Lear Asset Management, the security firm whose plain-clothes employees pried Borrenpohl from her seat and removed her from the event.
Borrenpohl's lawsuit comes shortly after the Coeur d’Alene City Prosecutor’s office brought charges against the security guards. Four of the guards were charged with misdemeanor battery and false imprisonment, as well as violations of the city's requirements for uniformed security. A fifth security guard was charged with uniform violations.
“Town halls are intended to foster conversation and discourse across the aisle, which is why I am deeply alarmed that private security dragged me out of the public meeting for simply exercising my fundamental right of free speech,” Borrenpohl shared in a statement.
Borrenpohl said she was encouraged to seek restitution by people who reached out to support her after video of her removal went viral.
"I have received an outpouring of support from people across the country," she said. "Along with words of comfort and sympathy, folks have described similar acts of aggression in their own neighborhoods, reinforcing to me the importance of demanding accountability in my own case."
During a GOP town hall at Coeur d'Alene High School, Teresa Borrenpohl called out, “Is this a lecture or a town hall?” Witnesses said three unidentified men, who were not wearing badges or ID, then physically removed from her seat by order of the Idaho county sheriff.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts.bsky.social) February 23, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Lear CEO Paul Trouette told the Washington Post that the charges against his employees were "misguided [and] false" and stood by the decision to remove Borrenpohl from the town hall.
"The Constitution provides freedom of speech, but it does not provide a license to be disruptive,” he said.
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