Teresa Borrenpohl, the Idaho woman who was dragged to the floor and pulled out of a local Republican town hall in February, is seeking $5 million in damages from a private security firm and the men she says were responsible for her forcible removal from the meeting.
Borrenpohl, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat last fall, filed a notice of tort claim, which is a legally required precursor to a civil lawsuit in Idaho, on Monday.
The suit concerns an incident from Feb. 22 in Coeur d’Alene in which Borrenpohl heckled lawmakers attending a town hall meeting attended by state legislators and hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC).
Borrenpohl’s suit names Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris and KCRCC Chair Brent Regan, as well as Lear Asset Management, the private security firm for the event, and five Lear guards, including the company’s CEO Paul Trouette.
“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 said in a statement.
“Since this disturbing incident, I have received an outpouring of support from people across the country, for which I am immensely grateful. 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."
Efforts by The Hill to reach Lear Asset Management and Trouette by telephone were not successful, but Trouette in remarks to The Washington Post defended his company.
“The Constitution provides freedom of speech, but it does not provide a license to be disruptive,” he told the newspaper.
Separately, Trouette and four other men face charges of battery and false imprisonment for actions related to the incident, according to a report in The New York Times. Those charges were brought by the Coeur d’Alene prosecutor’s office. Two other men face separate charges.
The City of Coeur d’Alene also revoked Lear’s business license for violating city ordinances that require security agents to wear clearly marked uniforms, per the Times.
Trouette told the Times those charges were baseless.
“We believe these charges are false and should have never been made,” he said.
Viral video from the event shows several men pulling Borrenpohl out of her seat and into the aisle as she yells “Who are these men?”
Norris is seen in the video encouraging the men and recording the encounter on his phone, while Regan, who was speaking at the podium, also is shown expressing support for her physical removal.
The KCRCC defended its actions in a Feb. 27 statement released five days after the event, arguing Borrenpohl interrupted the proceedings, shouted insults and prevented other people from participating, something it described as a “heckler's veto.” It also described Borrenpohl as a “known agitator” while saying her behavior crossed a line and that she was warned to cease her disruptions and asked by Norris to leave at least five times.
“The KCRCC acted wholly within our legal rights and Idaho law to ensure the peace, safety, and rights of those in attendance,” the group wrote.
Borrenpohl’s attorney said the sheriff and the security firm should both be held responsible for their treatment of her client.
“Today is the first step in the civil legal system for pursuing justice for Teresa and holding Lear Asset Management and Sheriff Norris responsible for the disturbing events that happened at the town hall event,” Borrenpohl's attorney, Wendy Olson, said in a statement. “We have put the county on notice that its public officials intentionally obstructed Teresa’s constitutional rights and physically assaulted her in the process.”
Borrenpohl alleges that she “suffered pain, scratches, bruising and emotional distress” from the ordeal.
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“Ms. Borrenpohl was fearful for her safety throughout the time the men assaulted her. Because the men were unidentified, because Sheriff Norris directed them to physically remove her, and because of the manner in which they dragged her from the auditorium, Ms. Borrenpohl feared that she was being kidnapped,” it reads.
According to Borrenpohl's claim and video of the incident, several people in the crowded auditorium were loudly responding to elected officials' remarks during the forum — some in support and others against, including Borrenpohl.
“Although several in the auditorium stood, pointed, and yelled, Ms. Borrenpohl remained seated while she was speaking,” the claim reads. “No other person was physically grabbed and removed from the auditorium in the same manner prior to the unidentified men dragging her from the auditorium. Nor were any who supported the speakers confronted or asked to leave.”