Leonard Filipowski, a self-described First Amendment auditor better known as Leroy Truth, was arraigned in court late last week after he was indicted for allegedly assaulting a police officer, maintaining that the video footage from the incident exonerates him.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
“I look forward to all the evidence coming forward, all the video evidence being seen, which plainly shows that I’m innocent of all charges,” Filipowski told HCV last week.
He was indicted late last month for third-degree aggravated assault of a Union City police officer late last year, stemming from an incident at the Union City Board of Education.
At his Essex County Superior Court arraignment on Thursday, Filipowski was represented by Brooklyn-based criminal defense attorney Louis Acevedo.
After Judge Michael Ravin clarified that all the discovery for the case had been exchanged, he confirmed with Acevedo that there had been no plea offer extended to Filipowski at the time – hough they can file an application for pre-trial intervention if they choose.
Ravin said that any additional discovery must be turned over, and that Acevedo can file a motion to dismiss the indictment, two days before the next hearing, which is set for June 29th at 9 a.m. in Newark.
In November 2025, Filipowski was doing a YouTube livestream as he filled out an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, when two police officers, including then-Lt. Glen Gaston (he’s since been promoted to captain), asked Filipowski to tone it down after asking a parent about alleged sexual assaults while her child was present.
Gaston pressed on and the two got into an argument, with Filipowski telling him he did not wish to speak with him and later to shut his mouth, before a back-and-forth ensued, ending with Gaston grabbing Filipowski, them both falling to the ground, and an arrest being made.
The Union City Police Department charged Filipowski with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing a governmental function by means of physical interference.
The incident was reviewed by an Essex County grand jury before they came back with an indictment for third-degree aggravated assault.
“I was just indicted on completely false charges. A grand jury was convened, I was told I was indicted today, even though I have exculpatory evidence, which means proves ones innocence, and the assistant prosecutor, Dawn Simonetti, should have never brought this to a grand jury,” Filipowski said in a YouTube livestream after he received word of the indicement.
“I was targeted. The video proves I’m innocent. And what the lying officer, Ivis Arias, said in the police report, is she said that Mr. Filipowski, my legal name, ‘forcefully struck Lt. Gaston in the upper body area causing him to fall backwards.’ It didn’t happen. Literally, they just pulled that out of the air.”
Filipowski has been attending meetings in Union City for about 28 months and has become a nemesis of state Senator (D-33)/Mayor Brian Stack, who has said Filipowski has gone after his family and is an operative paid by North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco.
Both Sacco and Filipowski have denied ever having any sort of business relationship, though Stack’s camp has pointed to former 33rd Legislative District Assembly candidate Tony Hector, who was backed by Sacco, paying Filipowski $10,000 for advertising last year.
