Public or private: Kootenai County GOP, others debate nature of town hall

COEUR d’ALENE — In the wake of a legislative town hall where plainclothes security guards dragged a woman from the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium, the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee maintains that the event was private — while the Coeur d’Alene School District, city police and prosecutors, and some community members assert that the town hall was a public event.

At the center of the debate are questions about jurisdiction and the legitimacy of physically removing Post Falls resident and former Democratic legislative candidate Teresa Borrenpohl from the auditorium after she heckled legislators. 

Richard Seamon, a constitutional law professor with the University of Idaho’s College of Law, said political speech is not necessarily unlimited in private forums organized by nongovernmental entities.

“To the extent that the party has reserved the space, it does get a degree of control over the space and can ask people to leave,” he said. “If they don’t leave after being asked, they may be subject to trespassing laws that can be enforced by police.” 

That’s where the matter gets thorny.

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris told The Press that his handling of Borrenpohl was in line with security protocols set before the town hall began and that it was appropriate to physically remove her from the event.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department, which was called into the high school after Borrenpohl’s removal, took a different stance.

Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said it’s inappropriate for law enforcement to forcefully remove a person from a town hall for speaking out of turn or shouting. He said his officers declined Norris’ request that Borrenpohl be arrested for trespassing because the town hall was a public event.

Meanwhile, in a motion to dismiss a battery citation filed against Borrenpohl for biting one of the men who dragged her away, city prosecutors said that Borrenpohl’s constitutional rights may have been violated.

“Subsequent investigation has revealed that the initial information (provided by individuals directly involved in the incident) was incomplete and, specifically, did not include the fact that potential violations of (Borrenpohl’s) First Amendment rights occurred at the inception of this incident,” the motion said.

Prior to the start of the town hall, Kootenai County GOP chair Brent Regan told audience members they were attending a private event.

“Today we are meeting in a public building with public officials, but this is actually a private event,” Regan told the crowd. “As a result of that, if there’s any disturbances where we can’t maintain decorum, we have security here and you’ll be escorted out of the building.”

Marc Stewart represents precinct 405 on the central committee and sits on the body’s legislative subcommittee, which is responsible for organizing town halls with North Idaho legislators. He emphasized that he does not speak on behalf of the central committee.

Stewart said he suggested Coeur d’Alene High School as a venue for the Feb. 22 event because the school has a larger auditorium and more available parking than the local churches where many of the central committee's events are held. He also thought CHS would be a neutral location for what he understood to be a public event. 

“I felt that we would get a broader demographic of people, because not everyone is comfortable mixing their church with their politics,” he said. “I’m not one of them. I don’t care where (the event) is. What I cared about was finding a venue that could accommodate the most people.”

Flyers promoted the event as a town hall.

“This is a great opportunity to meet your Idaho state legislators and get updates on the 2025 legislative session,” the central committee said in a public Facebook post before the event. 

In a public statement, the Coeur d’Alene School District said the Kootenai County GOP’s request to hold the town hall at CHS was granted only because the event would be public.

“At no point was the KCRCC’s town hall — featuring participation by the area’s elected state legislators — presented to the district as a ‘private meeting,’” the district said in a news release. “Had it been presented as such, the district would’ve denied the request (to use CHS as a venue).”

The district “unequivocally condemns any action or rhetoric that denies any person their constitutional rights,” it said.

The manner in which someone is removed also matters, Seamon said. 

“Regardless of whether a person is on the clock or off the clock, there are limits on the use of physical force,” Seamon said. “Just because someone is trespassing on your property doesn’t mean anything goes in terms of getting them off your property. Those limits can apply to a private citizen, a public official or a public official who’s not on the clock.”

Video recordings of the town hall show Norris threaten to pepper spray Borrenpohl before taking her by the arm with both hands and making multiple attempts to pull her from her seat.

Norris then gestured to plainclothes security guards — later identified by police as Christofer Berg, Jesse Jones, Alexander Trouette and Paul Trouette of LEAR Asset Management — who took Borrenpohl by the arms and legs, pulled her from her seat and dragged her from the auditorium.

As the men dragged her away, Borrenpohl lost a shoe, and at one point, her shirt nearly came off. Friends of Borrenpohl who attended the town hall have told news outlets that she has bruises from the incident.

From a constitutional law perspective, Seamon said, the events of Saturday’s town hall may be tricky to untangle.

“It may boil down more to a question of perception and overall sense of fairness,” he said.

Before Saturday’s town hall began, Rathdrum resident Suzanne Gallus said she felt excited to see hundreds of community members present and wished she had invited some high school students from the Lakeland School District so they could see the exchange of ideas between legislators and constituents. 

After seeing a woman dragged out of the town hall for speaking out of turn, Gallus said she’s glad she didn’t encourage any students to attend.  

“It makes me think twice about attending public meetings,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to think twice. I should feel comfortable inviting high school government students or my kids or new people who are not quite as politically active. I should feel excited about having them come. Now I feel really nervous.”