Prosecutors in Idaho filed misdemeanor charges against a half dozen private security officers. Authorities accuse the men of forcibly removing a woman who attended a town hall meeting in February. Five of the men work for the security firm Lear Asset Management.
Who is the woman making the allegations?
Teresa Borrenpohl, the woman seen on video getting dragged from the meeting, has notified Kootenai County, Idaho, that she intends to sue.
The Coeur d’Alene City Prosecutor’s Office said Paul Trouette, Russell Dunne, Christopher Berg and Jesse Jones all face charges of battery, false imprisonment and violations of security agent duties and uniform requirements. In addition, investigators charged Alex Trouette IV, with security agent duties and uniform violations.
A sixth man, Michael Keller, who does not work for the private security firm, is facing misdemeanor battery.
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What happened inside the meeting?
The Associated Press reported that about 450 people attended the meeting of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.
A video posted to YouTube showed the meeting getting loud before a man, in a hat that reads “Kootenai County Sheriff,” tries to remove Borrenpohl by grabbing and pulling her arm.
In the video, she can be heard saying, “Please don’t touch me” several times. Later in the video, at least two men pull Borrenpohl to the ground before pinning and restraining her. People off-camera ask for badge numbers and identification, and question who these people are.
After the incident, Kootenai County Undersheriff Brett Nelson released a statement saying the agency will have a complete and independent investigation of the incident and will use an outside agency to conduct it.
Borrenpohl, a Democratic state legislative candidate, told the AP she was surprised that security guards would drag out a person from a public meeting.
“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 to free speech,” Borrenpohl said.
Has there been any comment from those accused of the misdemeanors?
Dunne declined to comment on the incident when asked by the AP. Two others did not respond to messages and the AP was unable to find contact information for the three other suspects.
