Johnson said he felt compelled to speak up about “the abuse of authority and mistreatment of a woman” happening in front of him.
“Hey, leave her alone,” Johnson said.
Norris later testified that those words “encouraged” Borrenpohl to “keep resisting,” so he grabbed Johnson and threatened to arrest him. He marched Johnson out of the auditorium, joined by Trouette. They pushed Johnson against a wall, kicked his legs to force them open and restrained his hands behind his back.
“I was targeted and singled out for my speech, for simply voicing objection to what my eyes were witnessing right in front of me,” he said.
Johnson said the rough treatment aggravated his bad knee, causing further injury. He said Trouette’s actions caused more than physical damage.
“The effects are all over the community, where people feel unsafe to speak up when witnessing wrongdoing,” he said. “We cannot be afraid to voice our concern for our neighbors’ safety or rights. Injustice thrives in silence.”
Forsgren testified that she was leaving the town hall when she saw Trouette and two other men drag Borrenpohl into the hall. She said she told the men to get their hands off Borrenpohl.
“All she did was speak up,” said Ryan Hunter, chief deputy prosecutor for the city of Coeur d’Alene. “That’s all it took for the defendant to turn his attention to her and physically attack her.”
Video footage showed Trouette push Forsgren into a wall. The two struggled briefly as Trouette appeared to try to turn Forsgren around to restrain her hands.
“She described pretty terrifying circumstances, being grabbed and shoved,” Walsh said.
Hunter said Trouette violated the rights of two community members who spoke out against injustice, “betraying the faith that his fellow man” put in him and his employees that they wouldn’t be punished for dissenting views.
“In the United States, we talk a lot about freedom of speech,” Hunter told the court. “We talk a lot about allowing dissent. It’s one of the things that makes our nation great. But we failed in this instance. The defendant failed in this instance.”
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