I attended the Town Hall meeting where Dr. Teresa Borrenphol was physically assaulted and had her First Amendment rights violated.
Although my husband and I only stayed for a little more than half of the meeting, I want to express what we observed during the gathering and from the subsequent video recordings. I believe three individuals bear more responsibility for this incident than anyone else. First and foremost, Brent Regan played a significant role in creating this situation.
For years, Mr. Regan has been leading the citizens of this county down a dangerous path toward authoritarianism. In this instance, Mr. Regan is trying to hide behind the fact that Sheriff Bob Norris was present at the meeting, but I strongly suspect that Regan himself hired the LEAR group that attacked Ms. Borrenphol. Additionally, before the meeting officially began, Regan stated that it was a “private” meeting and claimed something to the effect that “security” was there to maintain order. At that moment, I sensed that events were likely to take a turn for the worse.
I am not sure if Mr. Regan fully understands what a Town Hall meeting is, despite his claims of brilliance. At no time was this a private meeting. When you invite people through the newspaper to a “Town Hall” meeting, you invite the entire community. You held this meeting in a public building (Coeur d’Alene High School). With an ego as large as yours, Mr. Regan, you may have believed that everyone in town is a member of the KCRCC. This is not the case, as you discovered.
I would also like to address Sheriff Bob Norris and his menacing attitude, as well as his inability to recognize First Amendment rights. The sheriff’s incompetence was evident during this event. In my opinion, Norris should either be fired or recalled by the public. It’s my opinion that he was aware that Ms. Borrenphol had previously run as a Democratic candidate and that he deliberately targeted her from the crowd. Many attendees expressed their views, cheering, booing, or speaking out. It seems oddly conspicuous that he chose to attack Dr. Borrenphol.
The inappropriate emcee was the third person who contributed to the chaos at this event. He did everything short of standing on his head to provoke attendees, referring to an adult woman with a Ph.D. as “a little girl” and incessantly discussing polarizing topics like DOGE and Elon Musk. He insulted people and suggested that their views were insignificant.
Lastly, I want to mention that at any point, the GOP legislators present could have intervened, stood up for Dr. Borrenphol’s rights, and stopped the sheriff’s behavior. To my knowledge, they did nothing, reflecting precisely the cowardice we can expect from them in the state legislature.
Sincerely,
Ethel Steinmetz Marmont
