Andrew Shirvell Ordered to Pay Millions for Defaming Gay Student

The former Michigan assistant attorney general made repeated headlines for his attacks on his alma mater's gay student body president. Now he's paying the price.

BY Lucas Grindley

August 16 2012 8:07 PM ET

Andrew Shirvell

The Michigan assistant attorney general who lost his job after tormenting a gay student body president has been ordered to pay $4.5 million in damages, local news media reports.

Andrew Shirvell was fired in 2010 after repeatedly harassing gay University of Michigan student Chris Armstrong via blog postings. He was even accused of stalking him — which led to being temporarily banned from campus.

On "Chris Armstrong Watch," Shirvell claimed Armstrong pushed a "radical homosexual agenda," called him a Nazi and a representative of Satan. All of that led to Armstrong's defamation lawsuit in 2011. And The Detroit Free Press reports that a jury in U.S. District Court today ordered Shirvell to pay $4.5 million in damages.

The Associated Press reported before the trial that Shirvell had been offered a deal — apologize and all charges would be dropped. But Shirvell refused and the case went forward.