Chaos at Kootenai County Town Hall: Woman Dragged Out, Police Chief Speaks Out
Wow, what a scene at the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee’s town hall this weekend! If you haven’t heard, things got seriously out of hand when a woman was forcibly removed from the meeting, sparking outrage and a whole lot of questions about free speech and law enforcement's role in these events.
So, here’s what went down. Teresa Borrenpohl, a resident of Post Falls, was attending the town hall at Coeur d’Alene High School. According to her, the audience was openly cheering and booing at different points, but when she voiced her criticism, things escalated quickly. She called out a past incident involving a legislator and public land, and before she knew it, she was being pulled from her seat.
What’s shocking is that the people who removed her weren’t even in uniform. At first, she didn’t even realize that Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris was involved because he was dressed casually. She recalled him approaching her and, out of nowhere, saying, “Do you want me to pepper spray you?”—which, understandably, left her completely stunned. Then, as she refused to leave, Norris turned to a group of plainclothes security personnel and told them, “Guys, get her.”
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And that’s when things got rough. Videos from the event show Borrenpohl being forcibly pulled from her chair by three men from a private security firm called LEAR Asset Management. She repeatedly asked them to identify themselves, but they stayed silent. At one point, she lost a shoe, her shirt nearly came off, and she described feeling like she had to fight just to breathe. She even admitted to biting one of the men because, at that moment, she wasn’t sure if she was being arrested or kidnapped.
Afterward, she was cited for misdemeanor battery, but Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White later said that her charge is now under review. Interestingly, his officers refused to arrest her for trespassing, stating that since this was a public event, removing someone for speaking out of turn was inappropriate. White was very clear—law enforcement should not be in the business of silencing people at town halls.
The bigger issue here? The security guards were in plainclothes, which, as it turns out, may actually be against city regulations. Coeur d’Alene has a law that requires security personnel to wear uniforms clearly marked with "SECURITY" on them, which these guys were definitely not following. Now, the city is looking into whether LEAR Asset Management violated those rules, and if they did, they could lose their license.
The fallout from this has been intense. Sheriff Norris claims he’s been receiving death threats over the incident, while attendees are saying this whole situation reflects a broader trend of political hostility. Some believe Borrenpohl was targeted not just because she spoke out but also because she’s a known Democrat in the area.
At the end of the day, this raises serious concerns about the right to free speech and the role of law enforcement in political events. Should people be removed from public town halls for heckling? And who gets to decide what crosses the line? One thing’s for sure—this event has put Kootenai County in the national spotlight, and the debate over what happened isn’t dying down anytime soon.
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