Woman Removed For Heckling Speakers At Idaho Town Hall Meeting

“They were not very kind to her — it was pretty violent and traumatic," a witness told the Associated Press. “I think everybody was pretty disturbed by what took place.”

BOISE, 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 $100,000 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 didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

“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.”