Ex-UM athlete's protest encampment removed by university

Ann Arbor — A camper, tent, signs and other items that represented a former University of Michigan football player's protest against the school's handling of sex abuse allegations involving a campus doctor have been removed by the university, the school said Tuesday.

Jon Vaughn’s small blue-and-white camper had been parked outside the home of the university's president in Ann Arbor since Oct. 8.

“It was removed completely and not by us. Getting more information to know all the details," Vaughn said in a text to The Associated Press.

University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed to the AP in an email Tuesday morning that the university removed the camper and other items.

“The trailer, tent and other items along South University Avenue have been removed by the university," he said. “All personal property has been placed in storage and may be reclaimed. We cannot comment further, pursuant to the ongoing confidential mediation and federal court orders.”

The 51-year-old former star running back is one of more than 1,000 people who say they were sexually abused by the university’s late sports doctor Robert Anderson over more than three decades.

The school earlier this year announced a $490 million settlement with the alleged victims. But Vaughn said he still wanted answers, and he did not plan to move the camper until he received them.

Vaughn's attorney, Mike Cox, told The Detroit News on Monday that Vaughn had worked out a deal with the Ann Arbor city attorney's office to move his stuff this week.

Vaughn had people coming into town to help him move, Cox said, because it's his birthday.

"It's all gone," Cox said. He called the move, "passive aggressive."

He said he is not sure what's next.

Detroit News Staff Writer Kim Kozlowski contributed.