Stack's anti-harrassment bill cleared the chamber in January. Leonard Filipowski, an activist Stack cut off at a 2025 committee hearing, was indicted in April and arraigned in May.

UNION CITY, N.J. — Mayor and Senator Brian P. Stack (D-33rd) cut off Leonard Filipowski's microphone at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on February 20, 2025. Stack called Filipowski a "complete idiot" and accused him of working for a political rival. Nine months later, Union City police arrested Filipowski at a Board of Education meeting. Now the Essex County Prosecutor's Office is pursuing aggravated assault charges against him for an incident in the Hudson County city.

Meanwhile, Stack's cyber-harassment bill, S-3470, became law in January. Stack and Republican Senator Doug Steinhardt also introduced a political violence bill, S-1090, in January 2026. The legislation repeats their bill S4934 from the previous session.

The timeline between the Filipowski case and the legislation is documented. Whether it undermines confidence in the process is the reader's call.

Filipowski, who also uses the name Leroy Truth, has built a following by aggressively confronting public officials on camera. He has been involved in politics before. Records show that Tony Hector, a former Assembly candidate for the 33rd District who was backed by North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, paid Filipowski $10,000 for "advertising" in 2025. Filipowski says he was not paid to harass Stack. Stack says he was. Sacco denies any business relationship with Filipowski.

On November 14, 2025, Filipowski walked into Union City Board of Education offices while livestreaming to file a public records request. According to the indictment and Hudson County View reporting, the encounter escalated after he confronted a parent about alleged sexual assaults while her child was present, then told a police lieutenant to "shut his mouth." Lieutenant Glen Gaston grabbed him, causing both men to fall. Filipowski was handcuffed.

The original arrest report claimed Filipowski "forcefully struck Lt. Gaston in the upper body area causing him to fall backwards." Filipowski says the video proves otherwise. An Essex County grand jury returned a single indictment for third-degree aggravated assault. The arraignment happened in early May 2026. No plea offer had been extended. The next hearing is set for June 29. Gaston has since been promoted to Captain. No disciplinary review has been documented.

Stack is not just a state senator. He is the mayor of Union City, grandfathered under a 2007 law that prevents "double dipping" of state and municipal positions. The city he runs employs the police department that arrested Filipowski. The county that is prosecuting Filipowski is not the county where Stack serves as mayor, and Stack's dual position is legal. But the jurisdictional overlap produces questions.

Those questions got sharper even before the school board meeting incident. On February 20, 2025, Stack sat as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and cut off Filipowski's testimony. Filipowski was there to oppose Stack's bills, and began referring to the Senator as the "king of corruption." Despite warnings from Senator Paul Sarlo to maintain decorum, Filipowski continued his comments. Stack told him he had "no respect" and ordered his microphone killed. The committee gave Filipowski another chance to speak before ordering his removal from the Senate Chamber.

Seven months later, Stack and Steinhardt announced they would introduce a bill creating a new crime called "political violence." The bill, originally S-4934, would classify politically motivated assault, homicide, kidnapping, or terrorism as a first-degree crime with mandatory minimums. It cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee 11-0 on December 15, 2025, the same day Stack's cyber-harassment bill cleared the same committee. With the start of the 2026-2027 legislative session, S-4934 was reintroduced as S-1090. Committee votes in New Jersey are recorded as aggregates, not individual roll calls. Stack's individual position on the bills is not published.

S-3470 passed the full Senate on January 12, 2026 and was approved as P.L.2025, c.303 on January 20. It creates an Office of Cyber-Harassment Support in the Attorney General's office and upgrades cyber-harassment to a third-degree crime when the target is a public official or their family. It requires the Attorney General to establish prevention protocols. No fiscal note has been published for the bill so far, and no appropriation has been attached. Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has taken no public position on the bill.

Funding for S-1090 also remains unclear. The Police Training Commission, which would develop any S-1090 curriculum, is under the Attorney General's office. The FY2026 Attorney General budget totals $119.8 million. The State Police training line item is $2.9 million, a 23% cut from FY2025. No line item for political violence training exists.

Stack and Steinhardt re-introduced the political violence bill as S-1090 in the new session. It cleared the Senate Judiciary committee on May 22, 2026. No floor vote is currently scheduled. The office of Senate President Nicholas Scutari controls the floor calendar.

Filipowski's federal civil rights lawsuit against Stack, Sarlo, Union City, Jersey City, and the New Jersey State Police was dismissed on September 25, 2025. Judge Madeline Cox Arleo ruled that probable cause for disorderly conduct at the July 2024 arrest foreclosed a retaliatory arrest claim. His state wrongful arrest suit was reinstated on December 24, 2025, after Judge Kalimah Ahmad found "exceptional circumstances" due to prior counsel neglect. Trial is set for July 20, 2026. Filipowski is representing himself.

Stack has publicly accused Filipowski of being paid by Sacco to harass him. Union City's official social media channels have posted statements saying that Filipowski's tactics "border on domestic terrorism." Stack's cyber-harassment bill creates new penalties for online conduct that targets public officials. The political violence bill that he and Steinhardt are sponsoring would create new penalties for physical conduct that targets political actors. Both bills connect to aspects of the encounters with Filipowski.

Filipowski is accused of physical conduct against a public official in the city Stack runs. But no evidence links Stack to the charges, nor the Filipowski incidents to the legislation. The bills advanced through the standard legislative process.

The story here is not corruption proved. It is the context that erodes credibility: when a legislator-mayor's past arguments with a critic overlap with criminal prosecution and the legislative agenda, the process requires an explanation that has not been provided.

S-1090 will need a floor vote if it is to advance. It will also need training funding if it is to be enforced. Filipowski's criminal hearing is set for June 29. His civil trial against Stack and Union City is set for July 20. Stack's political violence bill, if it passes, would create a new framework for prosecuting politically motivated assault, though Filipowski's two cases would not be subject to such a law. Still, the potential legislation could pose challenges for Filipowski, or others like him, in the future.

Sources

• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "Stack bills related to political violence, cyber harassment, clear N.J. Senate panel" (December 16, 2025)

• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "Judge reinstates defendants in Leroy Truth's Union City unlawful arrest lawsuit" (December 29, 2025)

• John Heinis, Hudson County View, "Leroy Truth indicted for assaulting Union City cop, he claims video exonerates him" (April 23, 2026)

• Dan Israel, Hudson County View, "Leroy Truth arraigned on aggravated assault charge against Union City police officer" (May 19, 2026)

• Insider NJ, "The Truth of Stack Versus LeRoy Truth" (July 25, 2024)

• New Jersey Monitor, "Senate panel OKs heightened penalties for political violence, harassing officials" (December 15, 2025)

• New Jersey Globe, "Arraignment for paid agitator indicted for hitting cop set for next month" (April 24, 2026)

• New Jersey Legislature, S-3470 (2024-2025 Session)

• New Jersey Legislature, S-4934 (2024-2025 Session)

• LegiScan NJ, S-4934: "Creates crime of political violence; establishes independent review board and training requirement for law enforcement" (December 4, 2025)

• Jay Edwards, WRNJ Radio, "New Jersey Senate committee advances bipartisan political violence bill" (May 22, 2026)

• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Filipowski v. Stack et al., No. 2:25-cv-01666, Opinion and Order (September 25, 2025)

• NJ Senate Republicans, "Steinhardt, Stack Bill Creating Crime of Political Violence Passes Committee" (December 16, 2025)

• NJ Office of the Attorney General, "Meet Attorney General Davenport" (2026)