Pressure is mounting in Michigan’s 2026 Senate race as police abolition ties emerge around Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Newly reviewed financial disclosures show that El-Sayed served on the board of the Sunrise Movement from 2019 to 2021, during a period when the far-left climate activist group aggressively pushed to “defund and abolish the police” and repeatedly labeled officers as “fascist pigs.”
While El-Sayed sat on its board, the Sunrise Movement posted “[EXPLETIVE] THE POLICE!” on X, described officers as “here to uphold and enforce white supremacy in our communities and nothing else,” and demanded, “DEFUND THE [EXPLETIVE] POLICE.” The group also insisted that “we cannot achieve climate justice without moving away from police and prisons,” calling both “white supremacist institutions.”
The organization actively trained activists on police abolition, hosting a “4 day crash course” in July 2020 to teach “tangible steps” toward dismantling law enforcement. In its event promotion, the group wrote, “[M]any people don’t realize that defunding the police is just one step towards abolition.”
These revelations intensify scrutiny of El-Sayed’s long record of anti-police statements. CNN reported that he deleted dozens of posts calling for funding cuts and labeling police departments as “standing armies.” The Washington Free Beacon previously reported that El-Sayed was part of a group that organized a Detroit protest in May 2020 that escalated into a riot, leaving a police captain hospitalized, more than 60 rioters arrested, and one man shot and killed.
El-Sayed has attempted to distance himself, insisting, “I actually never, never called for defunding,” and claiming he meant to advocate for “more investments in things like quality education and housing.” His campaign declined to comment further.
Michigan’s open Senate seat is expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation, with the eventual Democratic nominee likely facing Republican Mike Rogers.
