Flint Journal: Rally on U-M-Flint campus supports Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong

Since April, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell has used a blog to label Armstrong as a racist with a "radical homosexual agenda."

Shirvell's actions have drawn widespread criticism and he has been on personal leave since last week. A hearing on a personal protection order Armstrong is seeking against Shirvell is scheduled for Oct. 25 in Washtenaw Circuit Court.

CNN's Anderson Cooper Tweeted today that Armstrong will appear on his show Wednesday, which airs at 10 p.m. Shirvell was on the show last week.

During the rally, UM-Flint student government senator Alex Benda noted the nearby statue of Gandhi, dedicated last weekend and the adjacent Wallenberg Street.

"Raoul Wallenberg, a U-M Alumni, helped save thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II by granting them Swedish citizenship," Benda said.

Patterson also said that Wallenberg was standing for people different than himself.

UM-Flint Communication Professor Dr. Marcus Paroske spoke about the importance of getting rational ideas out in an unfiltered, communications age.

"We used Facebook and our natural lines of communication to disseminate information about the rally," Joseph Patterson, student body president said before the Willson Park event.

Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.