Andrew Shirvell, the Michigan Assistant Attorney General who, for six months, waged an online campaign against the University of Michigan’s openly gay student body president, has been fired.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox terminated Shirvell with prejudice for abusing the powers of his office.
Cox, via a press release, stated that Shirvell was guilty of conducting unbecoming of a state law enforcement official and utilizing state resources to persecute and harass 21-year-old Chris Armstrong.
“To be clear, I refuse to fire anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, regardless of how popular or unpopular their positions might be,” Cox said in his statement.
“However, Shirvell repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior, and inappropriately used state resources, our investigation showed. Finally, Shirvell lied to investigating assistant attorneys general on several occasions during his disciplinary hearing.”
Cox’s investigation into Shirvell showed he: [via the Detroit Free Press]:
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
• Showed up at the home of a private citizen three times, including once at 1:30 a.m. That incident is especially telling because it clearly was about harassing Armstrong, not engaging in free speech.
• Further engaged in behavior that, while not perhaps sufficient to charge criminal stalking, was harassing, uninvited and showed a pattern that was in the everyday sense, stalking.
• Harassing Armstrong’s friends as they were socializing in Ann Arbor;
• Numerous calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, Armstrong’s employer, in an attempt to slander Armstrong — and ultimately attempting to cause Pelosi to fire Armstrong
• Attempting to “out” Armstrong’s friends as homosexual — several of whom were not gay.
Shirvell’s personal blog, “Chris Armstrong Watch,” is a venue he created and has used to attack Armstrong, calling him “Satan’s representative on the student assembly.”
Armstrong’s attorney, Deborah Gordon, issued a statement this afternoon in which she said the AG’s office made the correct decision.
Article continues below
“The next step must be a complete retraction of all the malicious lies and fabrications by Mr. Shirvell,” Gordon said, “and a public apology to Chris Armstrong, his family and the others Mr. Shirvell has slandered.”
