A change.org petition to shutdown a bar on East Lovejoy in Buffalo was circulating online.
The anonymous person who created it called for Mayor Byron Brown, Councilman Richard Fontana, and Buffalo Police Department Commissioner, Dan Darenda to close Checkmate Bar and Grill.
The petition refers to the bar patrons as “animals.” It claimed they have terrorized the neighborhood with fights, speeding, threats to neighbors, jumping on parked cars, and trashing the neighborhood.
Councilman Fontana believes the petition is a hoax. According to him, no one at last night's community meeting would admit to signing it. He admits there were problems with the bar in the past, concerning things such as loud music, and people standing on top of parked cars. But those issues were resolved and he says he hasn't received any new complaints.
Earlier Tuesday afternoon the petition was deleted. This message was left up on the page.
"I am in contact with the owner's cousin. He had been very respectable with me and I apologized. This went too far. We should have went to the owner first."
