Prosecutors Charge Private Security Guards Who Dragged Woman Out of Coeur d’Alene Town Hall

Prosecutors filed criminal charges against five private security guards who dragged Dr. Teresa Borrenpohl out of a Republican town hall in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on 22 February 2025.

The meeting was a Kootenai County Republican Central Committee town hall and took place at Coeur d’Alene High School.

Police described Alexander Trouette as only an accessory due to lack of evidence that he touched or grabbed Borrenpoh. Police recommended misdemeanor charges of battery and false imprisonment for Paul Trouette, Christofer Berg, Russell Dunne and Jesse Jones. They worked as private guards with Lear Security, but were not in uniforms, wore no insignia and did not identify themselves. Police recommended charges of misdemeanor battery and possessing a weapon on school property for Michael Keller, who carried a firearm and pushed a friend of Borrenpohl.

In Idaho, the maximum punishment for misdemeanor battery is six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. For false imprisonment, the maximum sentence is up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

The prosecutor’s office said it filed most of the recommended charges.

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris is an “involved party” but not a suspect despite initiating the confrontation and signaling the Lear Security men to step into it. Two days after the incident, the sheriff’s office issued a news release which said an independent investigation of Norris would be done by an outside agency.

Borrenpohl ran as a Democrat for Idaho’s House of Representatives in 2020, 2022 and 2024. A Coeur d’Alene police investigator’s report said most of Borrenpohl’s statements in the town hall single sentences that did not disrupt the meeting, and audience cheering was more disruptive.

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