Mike Cox Backtracks, Andrew Shirvell To Face Hearing For Attacks On Gay Student
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 02, 2010
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has reversed himself, saying Friday
that Andrew Shirvell will face a disciplinary hearing for attacking gay
student Chris Armstrong.
The Detroit Free Press reported Friday that Cox will look into Shirvell's
actions after all.
Shirvell is facing mounting criticism and calls for his immediate resignation
after he appeared on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 on Wednesday to defend
his actions.
Shirvell began attacking Armstrong after he was elected president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor Student Assembly in April. He's
The University of Michigan has banned Shirvell from its campus. And
Armstrong, 21, has filed a personal protection order against him.
Earlier this week, Cox called Shirvell's actions “offensive,” but defended his
right to express his opinions.
“He's clearly a bully. Absolutely,” Cox, a Republican, told Anderson Cooper.
“And is he using the Internet to be a bully? Yes. But is that protected under
the First Amendment of the United States Constitution? Yes.”
Cox now reasons that the university's actions, among other things, justifies disciplinary action.
“Standing outside anyone's home in the middle of the night … is not an
action he would recommend to any state employee,” John Sellek, a Cox spokesman, told theDetroit Free Press.
University officials and students have rallied to Armstrong's side. Its
president, Mary Sue Coleman, decried the attacks in a statement: “As a community we must not and will not accept displays of intolerance.”
“Chris, your mother and I are thinking of you every minute,” Steve
Armstrong wrote. “We cannot begin to express the pride we feel in your
strength, intelligence and leadership.”
BY ON TOP MAGAZINE STAFF
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