Idaho town hall meeting turns chaotic after woman is forcibly removed for heckling speakers

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A Republican-hosted legislative town hall meeting in northern Idaho became turbulent after three plainclothes security workers forcibly removed a woman who was heckling the speakers.

The incident Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High School, first reported by the Coeur d’Alene Press, quickly drew widespread attention after videos of the chaos were posted online.

Now more than $93,000 has been raised for Teresa Borrenpohl’s legal costs — she was issued a misdemeanor citation for battery after biting one of the men who tried to drag her from her seat — and critics are saying she was wrongfully detained. Borrenpohl is a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for a state legislative seat in 2024.

“She repeatedly asked them to identify themselves,” said Tonya Coppedge, who was sitting behind Borrenpohl and shot video of the disruption on her cellphone. The men, who were later identified as employees of a private security company, refused, she said. At one point, one of the men bent Borrenpohl’s wrist into an extremely flexed position that appeared to be painful, she said.

“They were not very kind to her — it was pretty violent and traumatic,”Coppedge said. “I think everybody was pretty disturbed by what took place.”

Kootenai County Republican Central Committee Chairman Brent Regan said all 450 people who attended the event were told that security officials were present and that “anyone who refused to respect the rights of others would be removed from the event.” Borrenpohl repeatedly interrupted the speakers and was warned at least three times, Regan said.

“We’re trying to respect the rights of the 450 people that were there to listen. One person can’t stand up to bring a halt to the whole event,” Regan said. “The disruption was more than 18 minutes that we had to stop, and that took time away from the question and answer session.”

Videos of the event show multiple people there were cheering or jeering, including Borrenpohl. After one of the speakers asked the jeering to stop, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris approached Borrenpohl. He introduced himself and told her to leave or she would be escorted out. Then the sheriff stepped back and began recording on his cellphone as three unidentified men approached and began grabbing Borrenpohl.

Borrenpohl repeatedly asked if the men are deputies but was given no answer. She fought to remain in her seat, but the men overpowered her, carrying her out of the venue.