Did a Reporter’s Action at Coeur d’Alene Town Hall Lead to Liberal Media Bias in Article?

Note: Idaho Dispatch has spoken to several sources who state that the individual in the thumbnail image is Coeur d’Alene Press reporter Hailey Hill. The following article does not contain allegations that Hill did anything illegal, but is based on questions about Hill’s actions during the event and her subsequent reporting of the Coeur d’Alene town hall chaos. This entire article is about Hill as the alleged person, and the reporter is Hailey Hill, who works for the CDA Press. Idaho Dispatch contacted Hill and a CDA Press manager for comments, but none were provided.

Coeur d’Alene Press Reporter Hailey Hill can be heard on police body cam footage telling an activist that she felt unsafe, needed to leave the Coeur d’Alene town hall event, and then proceeded to place her hand on the activist’s leg at the center of the controversy.

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee organized a town hall event in late February. Lawmakers were on site to discuss the legislative session. The event was free and open to the public.

At the beginning of the meeting, event organizers told audience members to be respectful and that if there were any disturbances, they would be asked to leave.

During the event, a woman named Teresa Borrenpohl disrupted the meeting on multiple occasions. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris eventually ordered Borrenpohl to leave the meeting, which she refused to do.

According to a Coeur d’Alene Police Department search warrant affidavit, Norris asked several men to help remove Borrenpohl from the event. The men had to drag her out, and eventually, she was left sitting in the school’s hallway.

Hill was talking to Borrenpohl in the hallway when a CPD officer arrived on the scene. Hill can be heard telling Borrenphol as the officer walks up next to the women,

“I personally don’t feel safe, um, can I just get the spelling of your last name?”

Right before Hill stands up, you can see her place her hand on Borrenpohl’s leg and say “thank you” to her. Then, you can see a camera and a badge hanging around her neck as she stands up.

Below is a screenshot from CPD body cam footage of Hill’s hand on Borrenpohl’s leg:

When Hill makes the statement, Borrenpohl is sitting in the hallway, with no one trying to remove her from the building. The chaos from Borrenpohl’s removal from the auditorium had already transpired.

Hill was present on the scene during the chaos. In fact, throughout the process of Borrenpohl’s removal, Hill can be seen taking pictures, as you can see below:

The image above was taken as Borrenpohl is first taken to the ground in the auditorium aisle.

The image taken above shows Hill and Borrenpohl talking to each other as Borrenpohl is dragged from the auditorium. It isn’t easy to ascertain what the two are discussing.

Hill can be seen again here, just as Borrenpohl is dragged into the school hallway.

Then, several minutes after the chaos began and Borrenpohl was in the hallway, Hill is seen coming back into the auditorium. From any video footage Idaho Dispatch has reviewed, it is unclear where she is going, but she eventually ends up in the hallway with Borrenpohl again.

Hill wrote an article about the event, and several of the pictures within the article are attributed to Hill. You can see one of the pictures below, which Hill took, as the chaos was happening inside the auditorium. The picture below appears to be the same spot as the first picture above, but the image above is a still shot from cell phone camera footage.

There is nothing wrong with Hill being at the event or doing her job as a reporter by taking pictures and later writing an article about it. That is what most outlets would expect their reporters to do. One question for the CDA Press would be, “If a reporter feels unsafe during their work, are they required to stay and keep going, or can they leave immediately from the scene?”

Does Hill’s hand on the leg of Borrenpohl, the woman she will be reporting on later, undermine the article she had to write?

You can review Hill’s article here and determine for yourself if it is biased toward Borrenpohl’s position on what happened that day or if she did not let what appears to be her personal empathy toward Borrenpohl impact her writing about the incident.

If Hill or the CDA Press provides any statement, Idaho Dispatch will update this article.

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Tags: Coeur d'Alene, Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Coeur d'Alene Press, Hailey Hill, Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, Teresa Borrenpohl

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