Three Union City officials, the mayor, a commissioner, and the police chief, have filed “citizen complaints” against a YouTuber that largely revolve around a brief physical confrontation last month, prompting him to file one back against the chief.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
State Senator (D-33)/Mayor Brian Stack and Department of Public Works Commissioner Wendy Grullon have accused Leonard Filipowski, better known as Leroy Truth, of harassment with a communication in a manner to cause alarm and simple assault/scuffle by consent, respectively, sources familiar with the situation told HCV.
Both have court dates in Union City Municipal Court scheduled for April 17th, while Police Chief Anthony Facchini and Filipowski have cross complaints alleging harassment against each other tentatively set to be heard tomorrow, but that date is not expected to hold.
“What brought me to Union City that particular day was that for four months, I’d been hearing these ‘flier events’ had a cult-like feel to them where hundreds of people show up and put fliers throughout the city. I was curious, wanted to see it, and report on it. I went there with peaceful intent to ask questions and video record,” Filipowski said over the phone.
In video initially posted to Facebook by a third party, Filipowski is shown walking into Union City First, a Stack-run non-profit organization with an office across the street from City Hall, asking for a flyer before he is confronted and pushed out of the front door by a handful of people.
Grullon was knocked down along with way and was taken away in an ambulance as a result of the March 9th incident.
Filipowski said he didn’t believe she was seriously injured, if at all, and said he thought everything that happened that day “was a complete setup” to get him arrested, though that never happened.
The incident with Facchini has since been uploaded to Filipowski’s YouTube page, showing a brief verbal exchange as the police chief grabbed his tripod.
Hey, hey, hey! Get off me!” Filipowski shouts.
“Ha, I knew you were going to do that,” Facchini replied as he walked away.
“You knew I was going to do that when you assault me, you piece of crap?” Filipowski yelled.
In a Facebook post, Filipowski, said he filed cross complaints against Stack, Grullon, and Facchini, but only the latter was deemed to have probable cause.
He also subsequently said that another man, Marcos Vera, who he claims body checked him that day, also have cross complaints against each other for harassment.
Ultimately, all of the complaints will have to be moved out of Union City due to clear conflicts of interest.
Facchini did not return an email seeking comment, while Stack and Grullon could not be reached for comment on Monday evening.
Additionally, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Courts said they had not received a copy of any of the aforementioned complaints as of late this morning.
Filipowski has been aggressively pursuing tips alleging corruption in Union City since December, which has led to a serious escalation of the discord between Stack and neighboring North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco.
The two North Hudson power brokers have been at odds for the better part of the past two decades, with Stack recently quite insistent that Sacco is behind Filipowski’s hijinks, which he has denied.
That did not stop Stack from reiterating his belief in a recent mailer to Union City residents, prompting a response from Sacco and his fellow commissioners on social media, as only HCV reported.
