Private Investigator or Public Instigator?

“This is a man sent by Sacco and his North Bergen cronies,” says NJ State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack during a phone interview with HudPost. “They should call him a ‘Frauditor.’”

Referencing Leonard Filipowski, known to the public as “Leroy Truth” or “Lexington Maximus,” whose activities have brought attention to the longstanding rivalry between Stack and Sacco. Filipowski’s endeavors, termed “1st Amendment audits,” involve filming in public spaces to assess the reactions of public officials and law enforcement to being recorded.

This practice he initiated in Union City on December 11, 2023. His first video, provocatively titled “CITY CLERK FREAKS OUT OVER CAMERA! #police” quickly became a focal point for controversy. Filipowski claims that the video’s defense of his rights by Detective Haber led to retaliatory actions against the officer, including a shift change. Despite these claims, Filipowski has been hesitant to provide concrete evidence, citing a need to “dig through [his] archives” for the alleged communications urging him to remove the video.

This is when Filipowski says his interest in Union City peaked. Since then, Filipowski has produced well over twenty videos ranging from corruption, assault, and sexual assault accusations against the Stack administration on his YouTube channel, Leroy Truth Investigations.

Filipowski says the local media (including HudPost) are refusing to cover these stories. “And shame on every single local newspaper including the Hudson County View, the Journal News, the New Jersey Globe, HudPost, and others for refusing to cover this entire story of the history of sexual assault and alleged coverup by Mayor Brian Stack!”

Filipowski was unable to produce evidence of a police report, communication with the alleged victims, or any supporting evidence at the time of this article. However, he was able to provide a redacted email sent in 2010 from one of the alleged victims to the Union City Chief of Police, filing a formal complaint against a Union City Sergeant accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation: ranging from sexual advances to inappropriate physical contact. Filipowski has promised to get HudPost in contact with the alleged victims’ attorney.

Mayor Stack has pointed fingers at Mayor Sacco, accusing him of commissioning Filipowski to harass Union City’s administration. Stack referenced his private meeting with Hudson County Executive Craig Guy and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, “During a sit-down with Hudson County Exec. Craig Guy, Sacco admitted to sending agitators to harass me in the past.”

However, Mayor Sacco has denied any involvement with Filipowski. Sacco characterizes the allegations as baseless, attributing them to paranoia. “I have never had anything to do with Leroy Truth and any suggestion to the contrary is a lie. While we did discuss the fact that Brian and I have been on opposite sides in previous elections and worked with opposition candidates,” said Mayor Sacco in a statement to HudPost. “I have never sent anyone into Union City and never said that I did. It’s clear that Mayor Stack is under a great amount of pressure and it’s unfortunate that he is displaying this kind of paranoia.”

When pressed by HudPost for comments on his alleged connections to Sacco, Filipowski’s responses were non-committal, at one point stating, “I am not. Would I tell you if I was?”

As allegations fly and the lines between satire, activism, and political sabotage blur, the residents of Union City and North Bergen find themselves spectators to the melodrama. As this saga unfolds, HudPost is committed to providing you fact-based reporting.