Calls grow for attorney general to fire Andrew Shirvell
From Facebook to Twitter, the calls for Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to fire one of his assistants over a campaign against University of Michigan student body President Chris Armstrong are growing.
Count Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm among them.
“If I was still Attorney General and Andrew Shirvell worked for me, he would have already been fired,” she tweeted around 4 p.m. today. Spokeswoman Liz Boyd had no further comment on the tweet.
Jennifer Granholm
Mike Cox
She joins David Leyton, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, in calling for Shirvell to be fired for comments made on his blog and in various protest appearances against Armstrong.
Neither Shirvell nor Armstrong could be reached for comment today.
Armstrong has filed for a personal protection order and will be in court on Monday for a hearing.
On Facebook, a Fire Andrew Shirvell group has more than 5,100 members. It includes multiple posts listing Attorney General Mike Cox’s contact information and urging people to call him and have him fire Shirvell.
Cox did not return requests for comment Thursday.
However, on Wednesday, he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he believed Shirvell was practicing his free speech rights.
"Here in America, we have this thing called the First Amendment, which allows people to express what they think and engage in political and social speech," Cox said on the show.
"He does satisfactory work, and off-hours, he's free to engage under both our civil service rules, Michigan Supreme Court rulings and the United States Supreme Court rule."
David Jesse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
Derrick
Fri, Oct 1, 2010 : 10:29 a.m.
No surprise he was not fired, cox and his staff is the worst in Michigan history, thankfully the smart people of Michigan voted for Snyder instead of incompetent Ag who's claim to fame is jailing and prosecuting of mothers and fathers in child support cases. Although important is that what we pay for our top cops to be doing instead of real crimes.
Tom Joad
Fri, Oct 1, 2010 : 5:29 a.m.
To insinuate himself into someone's life to this extent exposes Shirvell's psycho-sexual make-up. His obsession has reached a level where Mr. Armstrong justifiably fears for his safety. I hope the judge grants a PPO in this case. There is obviously something unseemly about an assistant attorney general of the state engaging in this level of subtle and overt stalking of a college student.
Zack
Fri, Oct 1, 2010 : 12:26 a.m.
Free speech doesn't cover stalking, which is excatly what Shirvell is doing. The only reason this man is still holding down a job is because his boss is a bigot, nothing more.
Roadman
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 11:44 p.m.
Where was the LGBT community in Ann Arbor when Engler appointee Chief Washtenaw Circuit Court Judge Archie Brown assigned all pending circuit court adoption cases involving unmarried applicant couples to himself so he could dismiss them, thus effectively preventing gay and lesbian couples from adopting? This event was covered nationally in the media and dspite a hue and cry from gay activists, Brown was re-elected in 2004 without any opposition and no one has filed to run against him in 2010 where he is seeking re-eletion this November. Republican Archie Brown proved that an elected official in Ann Arbor could figuratively kick the LGBT community in the teeth and survive politically with little repercussions. If the gay and lesbian community could not organize any serious effort to upend "Brown the Clown" from his judgeship, I guarantee you they will not get Shirvell fired. I would urge all persons opposing Shirvell also to write-in a protest vote this November against Judge Archie Brown as was done in 2004 by the local gay community, where over 1,000 write-in votes against Brown were collected. By remembering Brown's affront against the local gay community in 2002, we can further show support for Mr. Armstrong.
Ryan
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 9:49 p.m.
Thank goodness Cox will be gone in November. Hopefully Shrivell will be going with him.
Pika
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 8:58 p.m.
Let's fire Mike Cox this November.
Mikey2u
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 8:35 p.m.
I hope the Feds get involved in this issue; obviously the Michigan AGs office has a conflict of interest and cannot be trusted police itself. Shirvells antics have left the State of Michigan wide open to discrimination litigation. Shirvells anger and intolerance is typical of the extreme right and is another great reason to vote Democrat in November.
Joe
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 8:27 p.m.
You should see this guy when he was on CNN. He's so far in the closet he's finding last year's Christmas presents!
Emily
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 8:17 p.m.
Okay. There's free speech, and then there's blatant harassment, stalking, slander, and hate crimes. This is not acceptable behavior for a government official. To Christian right-wingers who think calling him a perverted Nazi racist liar is justified just because Armstrong is pushing for gender-neutral housing options: how would you feel if atheists protested a Christian student body president, calling him or her 'Bible beater', 'backwater hick', 'ignorant fundamentalist', or other derogatory terms for religious conservatives, and claiming that he or she was trying to convert everyone to Christianity, force us to go to mass, and forbid unmarried couples to live together? Horrible, right? Biased, hateful, and untrue, right? Well, if you invert the situation, that's basically what Shirvell is doing to Armstrong. He's not going to turn us all into perverted pedophilic sex fiends just because he's gay, and insisting otherwise is an unfounded and deeply homophobic accusation. P.S. gender-neutral is proposed as an OPTION, and it's supported by a huge number of students, queer and straight. I myself voted for it last winter. Furthermore, similar policies have already been adopted by other large universities, and the sky hasn't fallen yet. People live in apartments with their significant others, so why not dorms?
bhall
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 7:42 p.m.
Hilarious Granholm says fire Shirvell via twitter! Can she possibly be even more useless? I guess that speaks to her political capital, though. All she can do is issue twitter reports. Go for it, Jenny!
Olive
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 7:01 p.m.
This isn't about freedom of speech. It's about harassment, stalking, and cyber-stalking by a public servant. Not acceptable by any stretch of the imagination.
Charles Drummond III
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 6:36 p.m.
Fire the guy now. Democrat or Repuplican he is wrong.
InsideTheHall
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 6:25 p.m.
Hang tough Mike Cox and do not cower to this pressure. When people are no longer allowed to speak as individuals liberty is diminished. When will the ACLU do the right thing and support free speech. Next thing you know we will be subject to being fired for the type of political sign we put on our lawn or the letter we right to the editor!
Stephen
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 6:22 p.m.
it has gone too far... despite any other issues that may help me in casting my vote this fall. this just made the top of the list, anyone who is in so much as the same political party as Shirvell will not get my vote. i use the term 'party' loosely... any political candidate that has so much as sat down to dinner with this man will not get my vote. (unless of course they finished their meal by slapping Shirvell with a filthy napkin) i myself am not homosexual but i support the rights given to us in the interest of freedom of choice. despite the belief that homosexuality is not a choice, it is a choice to openly admit and express it. it is this freedom of choice that needs to be protected by denying these close minded people from any office that regulates anything. this is sickening.
Basic Bob
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 5:37 p.m.
@inspector13, There has been no hate crime, hence no reason that a court would invalidate the existing laws. Perhaps we can get a court to invalidate the right of free speech and the right of free association. As long as there is public speaking, there will be opposition views. If the AG believes there is no reason to prosecute, someone will need to make a federal case out of it. The AG is by state constitution a partisan elected position, and by virtue of his lame duck position has no political motivation to act. If you don't like it you can vote. This will all go away as soon as the next AG takes office and puts his own political appointees in place.
inspector13
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 5:15 p.m.
cox stands up for rights of right wing anti gay stalker over his victim. now that's damn fine christian legal ethics!
inspector13
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 5:13 p.m.
cox is not responding to emails to his office.
inspector13
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 5:12 p.m.
fire him! NOW! to bogie, the roles wouldn't be reveresed because the kid wouldn't do such a thing. only right wing christian anti gay closet cases and thair enablers pull stunts like this. cox and shirvell ae plotting an attack on hate crime laws.
Bogie
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 5:03 p.m.
I wonder if roles were reversed. Say Armstrong was protesting Shirvell, would we be having this discussion?
Jason
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 4:57 p.m.
Most of the guys comments were true but you don't beat someone up with the truth. You must share the truth in love. You can call it a sin which it is but once you name someone you better know them as a person first and share the truth to help them not hurt them. What good is it to hurt someone while they are down? Should he lose guy who made the statements lose his job? That's up to the laws of the land but definitely an insensitive way to share the truth.
HaeJee
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 4:29 p.m.
I read that he won't fire Shirvell because he was Cox's campaign manager in 2006.
Bogie
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 4:17 p.m.
She's still governor? He's still AG? Who cares? They'll be gone in a few months...Thank God.
David Briegel
Thu, Sep 30, 2010 : 4:14 p.m.
Cox, You are not competent! Jenny, encourage impeachment!!