UPDATED
Assistant attorney general of Michigan Andrew Shirvell (above) has been targeting gay University of Michigan President Chris Armstrong in a cyber-bullying campaign on a disgusting, extremist private blog, Chris Armstrong Watch:
"With 27 postings to date, Shivell's blog is filled with language you'll never hear him use in a court room, calling Armstrong 'nazi like,' a recruiter for 'the cult that is homosexuality,' and a proponent of a 'racist, anti-Christian agenda.'"
Armstrong is the university's first openly gay student body president. I posted about his election last March.
Ironically, Shirvell's boss, attorney general Mike Cox, advocates actively against just this kind of bullying, according to WXYZ:
"In classroom's across the state, Attorney General Mike Cox uses videos to teach students the dangers of internet predators and cyber bullies. 'We want you to be safe on the Internet, and in particular, we want to protect you from Internet predators,' said Cox in the video."
Yet so far Cox has done nothing more than chastise Shirvell.
Watch a news report interviewing Shirvell, AFTER THE JUMP…
The Detroit Free Press reports:
"Andrew Shirvell, an attorney who works in Cox's appellate division, writes a blog called Chris Armstrong Watch, in which he calls the student leader a 'radical homosexual activist, racist, elitist and liar.' Shirvell has picketed events where Armstrong has appeared, according to the blog. 'All state employees have a right to free speech outside working hours,' Cox said in a statement today. 'But Mr. Shirvell's immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear.' Cox spokesman John Sellek confirmed that Shirvell is a civil service employee, but said the office would have no further comment. Civil service employees enjoy greater job security than at-will employees."
"With 27 postings to date, Shivell's blog is filled with language you'll never hear him use in a court room, calling Armstrong 'nazi like,' a recruiter for 'the cult that is homosexuality,' and a proponent of a 'racist, anti-Christian agenda.'"
The University of Michigan's paper, Michigan Daily, wants Shirvell removed from office:
Though much of Shirvell's tirades are one step from utter nonsense, his disdain for the LGBT community is obvious. Shirvell criticizes the LGBT community's push for social equality in blanket statements that are plainly offensive to everyone. Though offensive, however, Shirvell's hateful remarks aren't a threat to campus. The University community recognizes Shirvell's attacks as what they really are: the rants of a bigot.
Attorney General Mike Cox has not reacted appropriately to this reality. As reported on Tuesday, the attorney general's office confirmed to the Daily that the office was aware of Shirvell's blog. Yesterday, the Detroit Free Press reported that Cox had “chastised” Shirvell for the statements made on the blog. According to a statement from Cox, Shirvell is entitled to “a right to free speech outside working hours … But Mr. Shirvell's immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear.”
Shirvell's increasingly extreme actions of discrimination aren't the result of a lapse in judgment. His behavior does not stem from immaturity. It stems from hatred. And this type of hatred makes Shirvell unsuitable to remain a government official.
UPDATE:
Michigan's PrideSource has identified a participant at a May counter-protest of the Westboro Baptist Church over their picket of a production of The Laramie Project in May, as Andrew Shirvell.
At that counter-protest, Shirvell was again attacking Armstrong (see photo).
Watch the news report on the Shirvell attacks, AFTER THE JUMP…