The Monkey Sues Mayor Over “Class” Comment

The mayor is being sued by the Monkey.

Three-Legged Monkey bar owner Mike Armstrong told ABC-7 Thursday that he has added El Paso Mayor John Cook to a defamation lawsuit against neighbors in the Cielo Vista area.

The lawsuit alleges that Cook made comments about the Three-Legged Monkey that were not only not factual, but damaging. Those comments aired nearly a year ago on ABC-7.

Cook said, “A first-class shopping center is not a place where the police have to make constant calls, where they have to break up fights in the parking lot, where people are arrested for underage drinking, where people get shot in the parking lots.”

Armstrong said that comment, made by Cook to ABC-7 in his office at City Hall back on March 2, 2011, has caused a huge negative impact on his business, resulting in damages.

Armstrong also alleges in the suit that it cost him a contract to open and operate a prospective west side establishment called the “Bear’s Den,” a Don Haskins-themed bar in the Cincinnati Entertainment District.

The Monkey fired back at Cook’s “class” comment last March by immediately putting up a sign outside the bar stating “John Cook Not Allowed: No Class.”

Cook is out of the country and unavailable for comment. His attorney, Mark Walker, was not aware of the Monkey lawsuit and had no comment.

“You’re talking about a business reputation, my personal reputation,” Armstrong told ABC-7. “When you say things that are just plain not true, there’s plenty of damage because of the impression that leaves on the general public. So, absolutely, there’s some very damaging effects.”

The lawsuit does not indicate the amount of the damages Armstrong is seeking. He said that will be determined at a later date.