Town hall security arrangements still unclear

COEUR d’ALENE — Days after a group of security guards dragged a Post Falls woman out of a legislative town hall at Coeur d’Alene High School, it remains unclear whether the guards were hired or volunteers or whether they had any formal agreement with the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee that hosted the town hall. 

The city of Coeur d’Alene moved swiftly this week to revoke the business license of LEAR Asset Management, citing violations of municipal code that requires security guards to wear uniforms that clearly identify them as security.

The guards — later identified by police as Christofer Berg, Jesse Jones, Alexander Trouette and Paul Trouette — wore plainclothes and refused to identify themselves when they hauled Post Falls resident Teresa Borrenpohl from her seat in the CHS auditorium and dragged her away. 

KCRCC chair Brent Regan told The Press on Saturday that he didn’t know which company provided security for the town hall and that the central committee’s legislative subcommittee arranged for security. 

Jamie Haas, who chairs the subcommittee that organized the event, told The Press she didn’t know who provided security, either, and indicated that the central committee made no security arrangements before the town hall. 

Since then, Regan has told news outlets that he hired LEAR Asset Management due to threats against lawmakers who planned to attend the town hall and that the security guards were volunteers. 

Regan did not return a request for comment Wednesday. 

Public records obtained by The Press indicate that Paul Trouette and Nina Beesley, who represents precinct 307 on the central committee, did a walkthrough at CHS last Thursday, Feb. 20, two days before the town hall. 

Jesse Jones and Alexander Trouette obtained security agent licenses from the city of Coeur d’Alene the same day, according to public records, while Christofer Berg obtained the license Feb. 21.

According to a police report, Paul Trouette told school officials Feb. 20 that the central committee had hired his company to provide “executive protection” for the legislators in attendance and inquired about whether his employees could carry firearms at the town hall. 

Beesley later told school resource officer Josh Reneau that the central committee had not hired LEAR Asset Management. Rather, Paul Trouette had volunteered his company’s services.

Reneau said he spoke again with Paul Trouette about his agreement with the KCRCC. 

“It was at this point Trouette changed his story a bit and stated he was not really ‘hired’ but that he had volunteered his services to the KCRCC and was not going to be paid for the event,” a police report said. “Additionally, he stated he did not have a contract drawn up and signed, showing what services he would be providing to the event.” 

Under Idaho law, security personnel who are “actively engaged in their employment” may carry a firearm in a public school. If the security guards were volunteers with no contract, Reneau said, they could not legally carry firearms while at CHS.

Paul Trouette told Reneau he would be paid $1 for his services, according to a police report, but said the KCRCC had “rushed” the security arrangements and, as a result, he was unlikely to have a contract in place before the town hall. 

“Based on my conversations, there were mixed messages from different members of the KCRCC as to whether Trouette had been hired by the group to provide security services,” Reneau said in a report. “At the time, we had no threats of harm to anyone in attendance. Due to the fact I was not able to find a clear answer or a representative from the KCRCC who could verify Trouette being employed to do security, I was comfortable leaving my last conversation with Trouette, in which I did not believe he met the conditions ... to carry firearms on school grounds.”