State Senator (D-33)/Union City Mayor Brian Stack is publicly discussing “intensified harassment” and death threats via a mailer that hit this weekend as his feud with YouTuber Leroy Truth escalates.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I’d like to take a few moments of your time to shed light on recent events. Since becoming involved in politics, I’ve come to realize just how ugly it can be, particularly here in Hudson County, as you may have received a letter that points to false and disgusting claims about me,” Stack wrote in a letter paid for by his Senate campaign.
“Furthermore, I’ve been the target of intensified harassment and paid attacks that are allegedly orchestrated by both a candidate who has statewide political ambitions and an outdated political boss from North Bergen. They know that I won’t go along with their self-serving agendas. Embarrassingly, these attacks are launched by cowards, hiding behind their faceless and baseless claims.”
Stack has accused North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco, a long time political rival, of paying Filipowski to harass him, which he has denied.
The person running statewide he is referencing is less clear, though Filipowski posted on Facebook that he attend an event for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea on Thursday.
Stack has also endorsed U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5), an expected Democratic candidate for governor who has not declared yet, part of a fracture among Hudson County Democrats with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop already running for governor.
Whether he was taking aim at Fulop or not, he was eager to return fire this afternoon.
“First, I’ve never met or spoken to Leroy Truth. It’s always been clear that Brian is driven by paranoia and recent actions like sending out this letter make it appear that he may be suffering from a more significant mental illness. We hope he gets the help that he needs, both for his sake and for his constituents,” he told HCV.
Stack responded by saying that someone in Fulop’s position should be speaking out against Filipowski’s actions.
“For somebody of Fulop’s stature who’s Jersey City’s mayor and running for governor, you think he would be one of the first to denounce what’s taking place.”
Sacco also put the blame on stack for creating “chaos and division” in Hudson County, again reiterating he has nothing to do with Filipowski.
“Stack is meddling in local elections in Jersey City and multiple other municipalities and siding with Bergen County over Hudson County in the Governor’s race, all so he can try to become the new political boss of Hudson County,” he said.
“He did the same thing in 2013 when he selfishly endorsed Chris Christie instead of supporting our Democratic Party candidate. Brian has shown over the years he only cares about himself and he will abandon anyone to satisfy his insatiable lust for power.”
A mailer that hit Union City mailboxes prior to Stack’s alleged that he covered up the sexual harassment of three female municipal employees, a common allegation of Truth, whose real name is Leonard Filipowski, in recent months.
As of this writing, none of the alleged employees have gone public and nothing public has been filed in the courts, though they allegedly anonymously told Filipowski that they went to the police.
He also said he had nothing to do with that communication, and since there was no paid for line, it is unlikely that anyone will ever own up to it.
“These attacks have not only been directed at me but also at my family, staff, and supporters in ways that are designed to threaten and intimidate. Almost unbelievably, I have even been the victim of death threats. While this behavior may be characterized as dirty politics, it is evident that the latest actions have crossed the line,” Stack continued.
“Circumstances have escalated to physical violence, demonstrated by an assault on City Commissioner Grullon on a recent Saturday morning at my campaign headquarters. These orchestrated attacks even involve individuals from out of State who are paid to harm members of our community.”
Stack said that the “political bosses and their cronies” who oppose him resent his work ethic because it exposes the fact that they aren’t doing the jobs they were elected to do, as well as serving a threat to their political power.
Filipowski, who filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against Stack and the Union City Police Department last week after being handcuffed and charged for not following some unwritten rules at a board of commissioners meeting, said the mailer was not shocking, but if Stack wants someone to blame for his current predicament, he should look in the mirror.
“Since I began my investigation of Mayor/Senator Stack eight months ago, I’ve been systematically and continuously been harassed, assaulted, robbed, had death threats, including one allegedly by mayor stack, fall in an effort to attempt to get me to stop investigating him and in an attempt to get me arrested,” he told HCV.
“Since my arrest, I am more committed than ever to continue to peacefully investigate and expose my findings of the over 2,300 allegations that against Mayor Stack that I have received so far far and growing every day. And I have videos of every interaction showing the systematic attacks, harassment, assault, and robbery on me over the last eight months allegedly at the direction of Mayor Brian stack so that they can arrest me …”
He also pointed out that the YouTube clips of his arrest have combined for approximately 750,000 views, drawing interest from several people who run First Amendment YouTube activist channels.
As a result, Filipowski will hold a press conference in Union City on August 6th, the same day as National Night Out, at a time to be determined before he and the his fellow YouTubers will host their first “National Auditors Night Out” from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.
He said both events will be peaceful and that they plan on asking the New Jersey Senate to remove Stack from the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, followed by a response from Union City Mayor Brian Stack.
Wow! This is some heavy stuff, even for Hudson County. I don’t know what to believe.
Just wait until the recording is released showing the Union City commissioner advising residents how to avoid getting caught by ice. Literally telling them what to say if approached by ICE. Tick tock.
I think Tiffany fisher suffers from the same mental illness
poor lady she should get some help
There is so much dissect here…First and foremost, the irony of Stack to call anyone “self serving”, it’s literally the pot calling the kettle black!