U-M Student Dismisses Protection Request
The openly gay student government president at the University of Michigan has dropped a request for a personal protection order against a state lawyer who's accused of harassing him.
An official at the Washtenaw County Circuit Court in Ann Arbor says 21-year-old Chris Armstrong's lawyer filed the motion Monday, hours before a court hearing.
Armstrong had requested the order earlier this month against Andrew Shirvell, a Michigan assistant attorney general. He claimed the 30-year-old lawyer frequently harassed him over a five-month period.
Shirvell started a blog in April that criticized Armstrong as a racist with a "radical homosexual agenda.''
WWJ spoke Monday with Shirvell's attorney, Philip Thomas, who says his client has been victimized by liberal members of the media who are trying to make him look bad.
Thomas said he will challenge no-trespassing order issued against Shirvell, banning him from the University of Michigan campus.
Then, next up, is a hearing to decide if his client gets keep his job.
"People want to know what's going to happen -- is he going to be fired? Well, we're hoping that if we get a fair hearing, since that action was premised and based upon the request for the PPO and that's not been dismissed as being moot, we're hoping that we're going to get a fair hearing and we're going to be able to resolve that," Thomas said.
Shirvell remains on personal leave his jobs. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has condemned his behavior.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
