A scene that should horrify any American erupted at an Idaho town hall Saturday. A woman named Teresa Borrenpohl was literally dragged out by security for talking back to the emcee.
The video above has some excellent commentary by Jesse Dollemore. The video of the confrontation between Borrenpohl and emcee Ed Bejarana begins at 4:30.
In the video, Bejarana complained about audience members “just popping off with stupid remarks” about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. One of those “stupid remarks” was an audience member shouting, “Women are dying!”
“Is this a town hall or a lecture?” Borrenpohl cried in reesponse to Bejarana.
It was hard to hear everything Bejarana said, but you can make out, “You’re just crazy people.” As the crowd erupted into both jeers and applause, the sheriff approached Borrenpohl and told her, “Get up or be arrested.” She refused.
That’s when Bejarana said, from the podium, “This little girl is afraid to leave. Just spoke up and now she doesn’t want to suffer the consequences. … So many people want to behave poorly and then not struggle with the consequences. That is shameful! I think what we’ve got right now is a situation where people are trying to filibuster and shut this thing down. … [W]e’ve just got to be a little aggressive with some of these folks here."
Meanwhile, plainclothed security men approached Borrenpohl and started to physically remove her. “This man is assaulting me!” she shouted. “Is this your deputy?”
Bejarana mocked her resistance.
“You, out now!” the sheriff shouted back at Borrenpohl. Security guys grabbed her wrists and ankles and dragged her along the floor.” She later admitted to being so traumatized, she bit one of the guys.
From the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press:
“It was really violent and really traumatic,” she said. “They had grabbed my wrists. They contorted my body. They lifted me up and dropped me down. My only thought was to maintain my airway. They were forcing me down on the ground. I just wanted to make sure I could still breathe.”
There is some good news from all this: Charges were dropped against Borrenpohl and the city revoked the business license of LEAR Asset Management, the company that employed the security guards.
A Gofundme for Borrenpohl has raised nearly $260,000 in the few days since the incident.
This event tried to silence dissent but it ended up turning a local protest into national news. It is why we all need to keep up our pushback everywhere we can.
