Leroy Truth on YouTube, in a screengrab of a video where he first met Board of Education Secretary Justin Mercado.
By Teri West | The Jersey Journal
“You are a coward! … You don’t deserve this job! … A bully!”
What started out as YouTube gonzo journalist Leroy Truth’s attempt to ensure transparency in municipal government evolved into claims of strong-armed tactics by Union City Mayor Brian Stack against city employees.
And it reached the boiling point with insults flying after Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
Truth says Union City Board of Education Secretary Justin Mercado, a confidant of the mayor, snatched Filipowski’s phone while he was filming. A brief altercation —Leroy says he was assaulted — ensued.
Leroy followed Stack out of the room, badgering him for comment about the incident, a video he recorded shows. Stack ignored him and eventually headed toward an elevator as Leroy called him a “coward” and a “bully” who was “running away.”
Leroy beef with Stack started with a Dec. 11 YouTube video that showed Union City employees trying to stop Leroy from filming in City Hall.
Leroy says a Union City police officer who told employees the filming was a First Amendment right, was disciplined, and what followed was more than 100 “tips” about malfeasance in the city.
So he posted another video, promising a deeper look into Union City. “Is this the most corrupt mayor in America?” reads the thumbnail description of the Jan. 3 post. Truth’s video includes audio of Stack yelling at a woman, apparently unaware the exchange was being broadcast over the police radio.
Among the tips Leroy received was the assertion that Stack picked up the phone and asked a city employee why he didn’t vote in a local election.
“He said, ‘Hi, this is Brian, how you doing?’” Jose Guerrido, a Department of Public Works employee told The Jersey Journal. “I said, ‘How can I help you?’ and he asked me, ‘I’m checking here, and I see you didn’t vote.’”
After the call, Guerrido decided to send in his ballot, recalling that he didn’t want to take the chance of going against the mayor’s wishes because he didn’t know if his job would be affected. At the time, his daughter was experiencing health challenges.
“I wouldn’t have taken the chance due to the conditions of the situation … the conditions of my daughter at that moment,” he said.
In an account first shared with Leroy, Guerrido said that he’s experienced such an interaction with Stack on at least three separate occasions. While the phone call was approximately three years ago, Guerrido said he and other employees received a letter of a similar nature from the mayor recently.
Leroy said he attended Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting to directly ask Stack questions about matters he is investigating.
Leroy says he had previously met and recorded Mercado saying “you have a good program” and when he mentioned to Mercado Tuesday night “I heard you like my channel,” Mercado grabbed the phone from his hands..
Jose Guerrido
Union City Department of Public Works employee Jose Guerrido on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
The video he was recording at the time includes audio of Mercado saying “You know what I like” immediately before the camera appears to be jerked around and Leroy says, “Hey! Hey!”
“He has the phone on the floor … and he lifts his leg up likes he’s going to stomp it,” said David, the creator of the fullcourtpressnb Instagram page, who similarly calls himself a First Amendment activist like Filipowski. He declined to provide his full name.
Both men said Mercado threatened to punch Leroy, though video was not immediately available showing that part of the incident. They said other individuals restrained Mercado from punching Leroy and shattering his phone.
“It was absolutely concerning, and I’ve never felt someone threaten my wellbeing or my life as much as that form a public official ever,” Leroy said.
Stack did not return a request for comment.
Stack has been Union City mayor since 2000 and began simultaneously serving as a state senator when he was elected to that role in 2007.
His voter turnout during every reelection campaign, despite often running uncontested, has helped make him a formidable figure within the Hudson County Democratic Organization
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