Police recommend battery and more charges for security guards, others in chaotic Coeur d’Alene Republican town hall
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Alexandra Duggan and Garrett Cabeza, The Spokesman-Review
COEUR D’ALENE (Spokesman-Review) — Officers have recommended criminal charges for the private security guards who helped drag a woman by her arms out of a Republican town hall in Coeur d’Alene and battered other people at the February event, according to newly released police reports. A member of the public shown on video helping the security team also faces charges.
The mayhem that spurred nationwide headlines began after Teresa Borrenpohl was booing and loudly commenting to lawmakers speaking at the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee event held at Coeur d’Alene High School. Then-unidentified men in black jackets grabbed her, pulled her to the floor and dragged her out as she screamed, video shows.
The men, who at the time refused to say who they were, were working as private security officers for Lear Asset Management, a California company formed in 2012 that gained publicity for its raids on illegal marijuana grows in Mendocino County.
The five Lear employees – Paul Trouette, Alexander Trouette, Christofer Berg, Russell Dunne and Jesse Jones – are considered suspects in the criminal investigation into the town hall after police allege they touched or physically removed Borrenpohl and several other attendees, according to reports released Wednesday on the Coeur d’Alene Police Department website.
Lear did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, despite Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris physically engaging with two people at the event, he is not considered a suspect, according to the police reports – only an “involved” party. Investigators wrote that he declined an interview through his attorney.
Norris was poised to face an independent investigation into his conduct after the town hall to see if his actions violated any policy. Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Howard said Wednesday he was told by Norris’ attorney not to release the identity of the agency conducting the investigation.
Norris’ attorney, Kinzo Mihara, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Police also recommended a battery charge against Michael Keller, who officers say inserted himself into the altercation and pushed Borrenpohl’s friend. Keller also had a firearm at the time, reports say, so police recommended charging him with possessing a weapon on school property.
Coeur d’Alene Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Hunter said in an email Wednesday that he received the investigation reports last Friday and they are pending review. He didn’t have an estimate on when the review would be finished.
How it all began
Investigators recommended several battery and false imprisonment charges against the men for allegedly grabbing and restraining Borrenpohl, the man sitting next to her other attendees. Police listed Alexander Trouette only as an accessory, as there is no footage of him touching or removing anyone, according to the reports.
The spark that led to the fracas was when Borrenpohl shouted, “Is this a town hall, or a lecture?” at the emcee.
Norris confronted her, identified himself and told her to leave or she would be escorted out. When she didn’t comply, video shows Norris grabbed her arms and tried to pull her from her chair.
In videos of the altercation, Borrenpohl is heard saying, “Please don’t touch me,” to which Norris responds, “Do you want pepper spray? Let’s go.”
Norris then gestures to the security team. The men walk over and grab Borrenpohl, telling her to cooperate as Norris stood by, seen holding his phone as if he’s recording video.
According to witness footage, Borrenpohl can be heard screaming repeatedly, “Who are these men?” and, “Who are these guys?” as one man told her to cooperate.
Both men then pull her to the floor and grab her by her arms and legs. The men roll her over and drag her by her arms out the door as she continued to ask people who the men are, the video shows.
Police wrote in reports the security members were wearing tactical-type pants and long-sleeved black jackets with no security markings or badges that would indicate they were security, which is a violation of city code. Lear’s license to operate within the city was revoked because of that violation.
Borrenpohl told police she had bruising all over her body; a sore neck, shoulder and elbows; and abrasions on her hands and back from the incident.
As Borrenpohl is dragged away, people in the crowd sneer and yell out to her, “Bye, Teresa” and “Remove the trash.”
The emcee, Ed Bejarana, calls Borrenpohl a “little girl” and says opposing voices are “meaningless” as others cheer him on, video from the town hall shows.
Marc Stewart, KCRCC precinct committeeman, told police he believed Bejarana was inciting the crowd during the event and saw a group of men pulling Borrenpohl out of the auditorium and her clothes were coming off, revealing her bra.
After the altercation, Borrenpohl was cited for alleged battery based on the “limited information” police knew at the time because she bit one of the men as he dragged her away. The private security officer she bit told police he wanted to press charges against her because she left a mark on his skin, the reports say.
But after further reviewing evidence, the city prosecutor’s office decided to drop the battery charge “in the interest of justice” and “careful consideration of the law,” Hunter said previously.
Stewart said the event was intended to be a question-and-answer session, but only a few questions were asked of the legislators, according to reports. Borrenpohl was dragged out almost one hour into the town hall, he told police.
One Coeur d’Alene police investigator noted in his reports that most of Borrenpohl’s statements were one sentence and didn’t disrupt the “flow” of the town hall. The cheers sustained by the audience were “more of a disruption than any statement that Teresa made,” the officer wrote.
Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White also told The Spokesman-Review in February, “You can restrict behavior, but you cannot restrict content,” making a nod to Borrenpohl’s First Amendment rights to free speech.
According to the police reports, Gregg Johnson also yelled at Norris around the same time to leave Borrenpohl alone. Norris responded, “You’re out too” and said Johnson was “going to jail” for refusing to leave the auditorium because he was concerned about Borrenpohl’s wellbeing.
Norris grabbed Johnson’s arms and pushed his hands multiple times to get him to leave, the reports say.
“Prior to being removed physically by Norris, Gregg had not been warned for his conduct, was not told why Norris wanted him to leave, nor was he ever told by Norris why he was going to take Gregg to jail,” the investigator wrote.
Law enforcement still don’t know whether Norris was given authority to trespass anyone at the town hall because he declined to speak to police, the reports say.
If Norris were to be charged with a crime like battery, the only official who would be able to arrest him would be the county coroner, according to an outdated law from the 1800s. The law was enacted before Idaho was even a state.
More people join the fray
As security tried to drag Borrenpohl out of the auditorium, videos show Keller pushing and blocking Borrenpohl’s friend, Megan Dardis-Kunz, who was trying to get close to Borrenpohl to support her, according to police reports.
Dardis-Kunz told police she and her friends, Tamara Sines-Kermelis and Borrenpohl, were met with “hostility” the moment they got to the event. Dardis-Kunz said she was wearing a sweatshirt that said something akin to “destroy American fascism,” and that the sweatshirt was eliciting angry comments and looks from other attendees, according to reports.
When Borrenpohl was pulled from her seat, Dardis-Kunz said she went around the aisle so Borrenpohl could see her and feel supported. When she walked toward Borrenpohl, a man, who police believe was Keller, pushed her and then grabbed her arms, blocking her from proceeding toward her friend, she said.
Dardis-Kunz told Keller not to touch her and she was trying to get her friend, but Keller told her something like, “No, you’re not,” Dardis-Kunz told police.
She told Keller he was not her dad and he cannot tell her what to do, and Keller replied that she was not his wife. Those comments were confirmed with video footage, reports say.
The exchange with Keller continued until she walked away, fearing the man or others at the meeting might hurt her if she stayed, she told police.
Police viewed videos provided by Sines-Kermelis and Dardis-Kunz, as well as others, like those posted on social media. They show Borrenpohl in the aisle of the auditorium as Dardis-Kunz tried to get close to Borrenpohl, but Keller blocked and pushed her with the side of his body.
Keller is shown pushing Dardis-Kunz backward with his hip and hand. One video shows Dardis-Kunz appearing to punch the man in the arm and telling him not to touch her.
He then turns to face her and continues to have a verbal exchange until Dardis-Kunz walks away. A witness told police she recalled the man in the flannel shirt, believed to be Keller, having a revolver on his hip.
Someone mentions a gun being in the auditorium, and soon after, officers talk about an older man walking to his vehicle to put his gun away, according to an officer’s body camera footage. Norris says there was a man with a firearm and then pointed to Keller, who is seen through the windows on the sidewalk.
Police wrote that one or two other people were carrying firearms and were asked to leave the school grounds, but those people did not insert themselves into the incident like Keller did.
Police attempted to speak with Keller, and his attorney, Michael Palmer, told police he advised Keller not to speak and would follow with a letter, according to reports.
Meanwhile, one woman who chose to record Borrenpohl, and did not attempt to touch or insert herself into the altercation, was told by Paul Trouette to back away. She did, but he pushed her down the hallway, tried to turn her around, zip tie her hands and then touched her breast, she said in the report .
“She was not physically interfering or blocking their actions with Teresa. She had not been trespassed or asked to leave the meeting,” the officer wrote in his report.
Security company’s involvement probed
Reports indicate Lear had no contract with the KCRCC.
“At this time there is no credible evidence that a contract between the KCRCC and LEAR exists to provide protection,” police wrote.
When interviewed by police, a Lear member said they were trying to get a contract made but felt “rushed” by the organizers. The police officer who drafted the report also noted there were “mixed messages” from different KCRCC members as to whether Lear was hired to provide security at the event.
An operations plan listed Paul Trouette and Berg as supervisors and Jones, Alexander Trouette and Dunne as guards.
Part of the plan stated: “Warn those who are disruptive in the meeting to cease, or they will be removed or (sic) the direction of the Chair.”
The company claims it was only engaging with audience members at the direction of Norris, and they were “under a direct lawful order by Sheriff Norris they could not lawfully refuse.”
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