U. of Mich. student government president says assistant attorney general’s blog hurtful

Mich. student says assistant AG’s blog hurtful

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan who claims he’s been frequently harassed by an assistant state attorney general said Wednesday that the man’s personal blog targeting him was “hurtful.”

Chris Armstrong, 21, told CNN in a taped interview broadcast Wednesday night that he hopes to make something positive of the situation by speaking out and offering a message to other young people who are being harassed. Armstrong filed for a personal protection order last month, claiming Andrew Shirvell has harassed him at various places around Ann Arbor.

“I think this is really just an opportunity,” Armstrong said. “I think this chance to really speak out and say something and give a message to other kids who might be facing some things.”

Shirvell, 30, started a blog in April in which he regularly lambasted Armstrong as a racist with a “radical homosexual agenda.”

“It was hurtful,” Armstrong said of Shirvell’s blog.

The Michigan Student Assembly president has said Shirvell also heckled him during a speech, showed up at a late-night party at his off-campus house and called the Washington office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where Armstrong held an internship.

Shirvell went on personal leave last week from his job. He earlier told CNN that he regards his criticism of Armstrong as a political campaign, not a personal attack. He says that when he’s not at work, he has the right to say whatever he wants.

A spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox has said Shirvell could face a disciplinary hearing when he returns.

Neither Shirvell nor Armstrong have returned phone and e-mail messages from The Associated Press.