Teresa Borrenpohl, the Idaho woman who was dragged to the floor and pulled out of a local Republican town hall in February, is seeking $5 million in damages from a private security firm and the men she says were responsible for her forcible removal from the meeting.

Borrenpohl, a Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for a state House seat last fall, filed a notice of tort claim, which is a legally required precursor to a civil lawsuit in Idaho, on Monday.

The suit concerns an incident from Feb. 22 in Coeur d’Alene in which Borrenpohl heckled lawmakers attending a town hall meeting attended by state legislators and hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee (KCRCC).

Borrenpohl’s suit names Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris and KCRCC Chair Brent Regan, as well as Lear Asset Management, the private security firm for the event, and five Lear guards, including the company’s CEO Paul Trouette.

“Town halls are intended to foster conversation and discourse across the aisle, which is why I am deeply alarmed that private security dragged me out of the public meeting for simply exercising my fundamental right of free speech,” Borrenpohl said in a statement.

“Since this disturbing incident, I have........

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