Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, participated in a September 2020 prison abolition webinar where he argued that society should invest in efforts to release people from jails and prisons, according to recordings reviewed by Fox News Digital.
El-Sayed joined Martin Vargas, described as a registered sex offender, and a woman convicted of second-degree murder at an event hosted by the University of Michigan's Carceral State Project. The American Friends Service Committee co-hosted the webinar, which was advertised with hashtags #FreeThemAll and #AbolishPrison.
"We've got policies … which basically force people into jail because they're poor … we've got to think about all of them systematically but any and all efforts to get people out of jails and prisons and to keep people out of jails and prisons is policy that we need to be investing in particularly right now … this doesn't end when the pandemic's over," El-Sayed said during the panel discussion.
El-Sayed has aligned himself with independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and is a leading candidate in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary for the state's open seat. He has also promised to be critical of Israel and expand welfare programs if elected, according to his campaign positions.
What the Right Is Saying
Critics of El-Sayed's remarks point to the timing of the webinar, which occurred during a period when violent crime rates spiked across Democratic-led cities. Some Democrats have since distanced themselves from positions associated with the defund the police movement that gained prominence in 2020.
A longtime Democratic strategist told Fox News Digital: "Abdul El-Sayed cannot win a general election in Michigan, full stop. This is a candidate who spent years calling police 'standing armies we deploy against our own people,' posted more than a dozen times in support of defunding the police."
The strategist added that El-Sayed deleted his social media history after deciding to run statewide. "They will notice," the strategist said, referring to Michigan voters and El-Sayed's likely Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed's critics argue that calling for mass releases without distinguishing between violent and non-violent offenders could endanger public safety. They note that Vargas told Fox News Digital he believes El-Sayed was unaware of his past before agreeing to appear on the webinar.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive criminal justice advocates argue that El-Sayed's comments reflect broader concerns about mass incarceration in the United States, which has the highest imprisonment rate in the world. Supporters point to his argument that incarceration often stems from systemic failures rather than addressing root causes of crime.
"There are so many ways that society has failed to deal with real problems and has used policing and jails as a stopgap for all of these failures," El-Sayed said during the webinar, adding that "jails and policing in America are like the 'duct tape' that people bring out to fix all the other broken systems."
Criminal justice reform organizations have long argued that releasing non-violent offenders and addressing poverty-driven crime could reduce recidivism rates while saving government resources. El-Sayed's supporters contend his positions reflect mainstream progressive views on criminal justice reform, which include investments in housing, mental health services, and job training as alternatives to incarceration.
What the Numbers Show
The United States incarcerates approximately 2 million people, representing about 25% of the world's prison population despite having about 4% of its total population, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data. Michigan's incarceration rate has declined by roughly 15% from its peak in 2007, though the state still ranks among the top 20 nationally for imprisonment.
Violent crime rates rose significantly during 2020, with FBI data showing a 29% increase in homicides nationwide—the largest single-year jump since record-keeping began. Property crimes also increased that year, reversing a decades-long downward trend.
A 2023 study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that states that reduced prison populations during the pandemic did not experience corresponding increases in violent crime, though researchers noted difficulty isolating pandemic-era policy effects from other variables.
The Bottom Line
El-Sayed's resurfaced comments highlight the tension within the Democratic Party between progressive criminal justice reform advocates and more moderate voices focused on public safety messaging ahead of November elections. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
The Michigan Senate race is considered competitive, with Republicans targeting the open seat left by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow. El-Sayed faces two other major Democratic primary candidates in a state that has voted for Democratic presidential nominees in recent cycles but elected Republican governors.
Voters in Tuesday's primary will determine whether El-Sayed advances to the general election, where his criminal justice positions could become a central issue regardless of the outcome.