Democratic senate candidate called for mass release of criminals during prison abolition webinar

Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan Senate candidate, advocated for releasing prisoners during a 2020 webinar hosted by the University of Michigan’s Carceral State Project. He argued incarceration reflects societal failures and endorsed continued decarceration post-pandemic. The event included a convicted murderer and a registered sex offender, though the latter denied knowing El-Sayed’s background.