NORTH BERGEN – A United States district judge has dismissed a complaint by North Bergen Police Officer Enrique “Henry” Marrero against the township for allegedly “unlawfully retaliat[ing] against him after he announced his candidacy for the position of Hudson County freeholder.”
Marrero, who lost the freeholder race to Anthony Vainieri, alleged that the defendants, the Township of North Bergen and the North Bergen Democratic Municipal Committee, engaged in a campaign of harassment and retribution in order to intimidate Marrero and his supporters. That harassment allegedly included opening his personal and interoffice mail, forcing his supporters to remove campaign materials and replace them with signs and fliers for another candidate, and physically removing Marrero from lawfully campaigning in front of a public school.
In his ruling, Judge McNulty stated, “For the most part, Marrero has reported secondhand allegations from anonymous persons about still other anonymous persons. He attributes their actions to the defendants, but does not plead facts that would permit such an inference.”
Marrero, who also ran for township commissioner and lost, previously filed a lawsuit against Police Chief Robert Dowd, which was dismissed “for similar reasons, including a lack of specificity and evidence,” according to township spokesperson Philip Swibinski.
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