Update: AC360 does a great job summarizing the case and bringing to light the fact that Chris Armstrong isn’t the first young person that Andrew Shirvell has targeted.  

Well it took long enough, but outgoing Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox finally got it through his thick skull that his employee, the anti-gay stalker Andrew Shirvell, should be fired.  Shirvell had been stalking and harassing Chris Armstrong, the University of Michigan’s student body president, calling him a Nazi, a radical homosexual activist, racist and liar.  Today’s Detroit Free Press reports:

The firing was confirmed in a statement this afternoon from AG Mike Cox, who said Shirvell was fired for conduct unbecoming a state employee, especially that of an assistant attorney general.

Ya think?  

“To be clear, I refuse to fire anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, regardless of how popular or unpopular their positions might be. However, Shirvell repeatedly violated office policies, engaged in borderline stalking behavior, and inappropriately used state resources, our investigation showed.”

Among the examples cited by Cox in the statement:

• 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.

And he did some of this while on the clock as an Assistant Attorney General, oops.  Shirvell also lied during his disciplinary hearing, the report says.  That must have made it impossible for A.G. Cox to protect the poor little homobigot any longer.

Shirvell’s lawyer made a last grab for parting pity points, saying

“There’s been a tremendous piling on against Andrew. The liberal media started this tempest in a teapot.”

“Andrew’s reaction is that he’s devastated over the loss of his employment,” Thomas said.

Quick, somebody call Shirvell a waaaambulance. (more…)