{"id":1076,"date":"2026-07-09T14:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:38:27","slug":"yes-michigans-abdul-el-sayed-really-wants-to-defund-the-police-here-are-the-receipts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts."},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite claims that he never pushed to defund the police, leftist darling Abdul El-Sayed once said that \u201cwe do need to defund the police\u201d and argued that funds used for law enforcement should go to public libraries instead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Read more Trump Sounds Off On The Democratic Platner Problem<\/a><\/p>

El-Sayed, running for the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, <\/span>argues<\/span> that he \u201cnever, never, called for defunding\u201d the police. That claim contrasts with anti-police positions he took during the summer of 2020 as riots broke out over the death of convicted felon George Floyd in Minneapolis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets, and investing more in the means of educating and empowering engaging communities, with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we\u2019ve allowed systematic racism to allow a fester in too many communities,\u201d El-Sayed said in a June 23, 2020 MichMash Politics <\/span>interview<\/span> first <\/span>flagged<\/span> by CNN.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

That comment came after he suggested that he generally did not use the term \u201cdefund the police\u201d but advocated for the policies pushed by the movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cRather than investing in a force of people who respond with guns and put people in jails, what if we were to take on systematic poverty by investing in the means of uprooting that poverty itself?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if we were to invest in social services? If we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries?\u201d<\/span><\/p>

El-Sayed is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the competitive Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Senator Gary Peters. The winner of the primary will likely go on to run against Republican Mike Rogers. <\/span><\/p>

Facing scrutiny over his previous police rhetoric, El-Sayed is now trying to distance himself from the defund the police movement. That contradicts what he told MichMash back in June 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI want a refund on the taxpayer dollars that I pay to police who use that to buy war material, to wage war in our streets, and I want to refund public health and public libraries and public schools,\u201d El-Sayed said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Later in the same interview, he argued that people imprisoned are the real victims of crime because of \u201cover-policing\u201d and failure to combat poverty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cThe fact of the matter is every single person winds up in jail, or worse, dead, at the hands of a police officer, has been failed by our system, either directly because of our over-policing, or indirectly because we have failed to invest in the things that uproot poverty in communities across the country,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>

Read more Iran Just Expanded The War After America\u2019s Missile Barrage<\/a><\/p>

The Daily Wire reached out to El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit, to explain his stance on defunding the police.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cAbdul worked closely with law enforcement as Director of Health, Human, and Veterans services for Wayne County. As hands-on experience always allows, his perspective has become more nuanced,\u201d campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner told The Daily Wire. \u201cOne simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Richner added that El-Sayed believes \u201cwe need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve.\u201d <\/span>El-Sayed also supports \u201ccommunity violence intervention\u201d policies and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Richner said. The act would weaken legal protections for police officers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

That response was similar to the comment given to CNN for an <\/span>article<\/span> highlighting El-Sayed\u2019s history of anti-police rhetoric. The outlet noted that El-Sayed had deleted at least a dozen posts pushing defund the police policies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cMost major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,\u201d he wrote in one post from June 2020 that he later deleted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/span><\/p>

El-Sayed, who claims that Floyd was the victim of an \u201cassassination\u201d and was \u201clynched,\u201d suggested during a seminar hosted by the University of Michigan that police officers should not be armed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cSo we have to ask ourselves, do police departments really need tanks and weapons of war and the material that\u2019s coming back as hand-me-downs from the military abroad? Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?\u201d he asked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

He added that the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement was about getting the government to move away from \u201cracist ideologies\u201d that led police to \u201cinvest in war material\u201d for law enforcement.<\/p>

During his time pushing anti-police rhetoric, El-Sayed was heavily involved in a group called Michigan United which compared police officers to \u201cslave catchers\u201d and helped organize a protest that turned into a riot, the Washington Free Beacon reported.<\/p>

Read more Kirk Family Pushes For Public Release Of Full Lance Twiggs Interviews<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite claims that he never pushed to defund the police, leftist darling Abdul El-Sayed once said that \u201cwe do need to defund the police\u201d and argued that funds used for law enforcement should go to public libraries instead.\u00a0El-Sayed, running for the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, argues that he \u201cnever, never, called for defunding\u201d the police. That claim contrasts with anti-police positions he took during the summer of 2020 as riots broke out over the death of convicted felon George Floyd in Minneapolis.\u00a0\u201cI believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets, and investing more in the means of educating and empowering engaging communities, with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we\u2019ve allowed systematic racism to allow a fester in too many communities,\u201d El-Sayed said in a June 23, 2020 MichMash Politics interview first flagged by CNN.\u00a0That comment came after he suggested that he generally did not use the term \u201cdefund the police\u201d but advocated for the policies pushed by the movement.\u00a0\u201cRather than investing in a force of people who respond with guns and put people in jails, what if we were to take on systematic poverty by investing in the means of uprooting that poverty itself?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if we were to invest in social services? If we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries?\u201dEl-Sayed is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the competitive Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Senator Gary Peters. The winner of the primary will likely go on to run against Republican Mike Rogers. Facing scrutiny over his previous police rhetoric, El-Sayed is now trying to distance himself from the defund the police movement. That contradicts what he told MichMash back in June 2020.\u00a0\u201cI want a refund on the taxpayer dollars that I pay to police who use that to buy war material, to wage war in our streets, and I want to refund public health and public libraries and public schools,\u201d El-Sayed said.\u00a0Later in the same interview, he argued that people imprisoned are the real victims of crime because of \u201cover-policing\u201d and failure to combat poverty.\u00a0\u201cThe fact of the matter is every single person winds up in jail, or worse, dead, at the hands of a police officer, has been failed by our system, either directly because of our over-policing, or indirectly because we have failed to invest in the things that uproot poverty in communities across the country,\u201d he said.The Daily Wire reached out to El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit, to explain his stance on defunding the police.\u00a0\u201cAbdul worked closely with law enforcement as Director of Health, Human, and Veterans services for Wayne County. As hands-on experience always allows, his perspective has become more nuanced,\u201d campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner told The Daily Wire. \u201cOne simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system.\u201dRichner added that El-Sayed believes \u201cwe need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve.\u201d El-Sayed also supports \u201ccommunity violence intervention\u201d policies and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Richner said. The act would weaken legal protections for police officers.\u00a0That response was similar to the comment given to CNN for an article highlighting El-Sayed\u2019s history of anti-police rhetoric. The outlet noted that El-Sayed had deleted at least a dozen posts pushing defund the police policies.\u00a0\u201cMost major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,\u201d he wrote in one post from June 2020 that he later deleted.\u00a0El-Sayed, who claims that Floyd was the victim of an \u201cassassination\u201d and was \u201clynched,\u201d suggested during a seminar hosted by the University of Michigan that police officers should not be armed.\u00a0\u201cSo we have to ask ourselves, do police departments really need tanks and weapons of war and the material that\u2019s coming back as hand-me-downs from the military abroad? Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?\u201d he asked.\u00a0He added that the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement was about getting the government to move away from \u201cracist ideologies\u201d that led police to \u201cinvest in war material\u201d for law enforcement.During his time pushing anti-police rhetoric, El-Sayed was heavily involved in a group called Michigan United which compared police officers to \u201cslave catchers\u201d and helped organize a protest that turned into a riot, the Washington Free Beacon reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"\nYes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite claims that he never pushed to defund the police, leftist darling Abdul El-Sayed once said that \u201cwe do need to defund the police\u201d and argued that funds used for law enforcement should go to public libraries instead.\u00a0El-Sayed, running for the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, argues that he \u201cnever, never, called for defunding\u201d the police. That claim contrasts with anti-police positions he took during the summer of 2020 as riots broke out over the death of convicted felon George Floyd in Minneapolis.\u00a0\u201cI believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets, and investing more in the means of educating and empowering engaging communities, with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we\u2019ve allowed systematic racism to allow a fester in too many communities,\u201d El-Sayed said in a June 23, 2020 MichMash Politics interview first flagged by CNN.\u00a0That comment came after he suggested that he generally did not use the term \u201cdefund the police\u201d but advocated for the policies pushed by the movement.\u00a0\u201cRather than investing in a force of people who respond with guns and put people in jails, what if we were to take on systematic poverty by investing in the means of uprooting that poverty itself?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if we were to invest in social services? If we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries?\u201dEl-Sayed is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the competitive Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Senator Gary Peters. The winner of the primary will likely go on to run against Republican Mike Rogers. Facing scrutiny over his previous police rhetoric, El-Sayed is now trying to distance himself from the defund the police movement. That contradicts what he told MichMash back in June 2020.\u00a0\u201cI want a refund on the taxpayer dollars that I pay to police who use that to buy war material, to wage war in our streets, and I want to refund public health and public libraries and public schools,\u201d El-Sayed said.\u00a0Later in the same interview, he argued that people imprisoned are the real victims of crime because of \u201cover-policing\u201d and failure to combat poverty.\u00a0\u201cThe fact of the matter is every single person winds up in jail, or worse, dead, at the hands of a police officer, has been failed by our system, either directly because of our over-policing, or indirectly because we have failed to invest in the things that uproot poverty in communities across the country,\u201d he said.The Daily Wire reached out to El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit, to explain his stance on defunding the police.\u00a0\u201cAbdul worked closely with law enforcement as Director of Health, Human, and Veterans services for Wayne County. As hands-on experience always allows, his perspective has become more nuanced,\u201d campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner told The Daily Wire. \u201cOne simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system.\u201dRichner added that El-Sayed believes \u201cwe need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve.\u201d El-Sayed also supports \u201ccommunity violence intervention\u201d policies and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Richner said. The act would weaken legal protections for police officers.\u00a0That response was similar to the comment given to CNN for an article highlighting El-Sayed\u2019s history of anti-police rhetoric. The outlet noted that El-Sayed had deleted at least a dozen posts pushing defund the police policies.\u00a0\u201cMost major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,\u201d he wrote in one post from June 2020 that he later deleted.\u00a0El-Sayed, who claims that Floyd was the victim of an \u201cassassination\u201d and was \u201clynched,\u201d suggested during a seminar hosted by the University of Michigan that police officers should not be armed.\u00a0\u201cSo we have to ask ourselves, do police departments really need tanks and weapons of war and the material that\u2019s coming back as hand-me-downs from the military abroad? Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?\u201d he asked.\u00a0He added that the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement was about getting the government to move away from \u201cracist ideologies\u201d that led police to \u201cinvest in war material\u201d for law enforcement.During his time pushing anti-police rhetoric, El-Sayed was heavily involved in a group called Michigan United which compared police officers to \u201cslave catchers\u201d and helped organize a protest that turned into a riot, the Washington Free Beacon reported.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076\"},\"wordCount\":857,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076\",\"name\":\"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1076#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Route Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal","og_description":"Despite claims that he never pushed to defund the police, leftist darling Abdul El-Sayed once said that \u201cwe do need to defund the police\u201d and argued that funds used for law enforcement should go to public libraries instead.\u00a0El-Sayed, running for the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan, argues that he \u201cnever, never, called for defunding\u201d the police. That claim contrasts with anti-police positions he took during the summer of 2020 as riots broke out over the death of convicted felon George Floyd in Minneapolis.\u00a0\u201cI believe that we do need to defund the police in so far as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets, and investing more in the means of educating and empowering engaging communities, with the means of being able to take on systemic poverty that we\u2019ve allowed systematic racism to allow a fester in too many communities,\u201d El-Sayed said in a June 23, 2020 MichMash Politics interview first flagged by CNN.\u00a0That comment came after he suggested that he generally did not use the term \u201cdefund the police\u201d but advocated for the policies pushed by the movement.\u00a0\u201cRather than investing in a force of people who respond with guns and put people in jails, what if we were to take on systematic poverty by investing in the means of uprooting that poverty itself?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat if we were to invest in social services? If we were to invest in public schools? What if we were to invest in public libraries?\u201dEl-Sayed is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the competitive Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Senator Gary Peters. The winner of the primary will likely go on to run against Republican Mike Rogers. Facing scrutiny over his previous police rhetoric, El-Sayed is now trying to distance himself from the defund the police movement. That contradicts what he told MichMash back in June 2020.\u00a0\u201cI want a refund on the taxpayer dollars that I pay to police who use that to buy war material, to wage war in our streets, and I want to refund public health and public libraries and public schools,\u201d El-Sayed said.\u00a0Later in the same interview, he argued that people imprisoned are the real victims of crime because of \u201cover-policing\u201d and failure to combat poverty.\u00a0\u201cThe fact of the matter is every single person winds up in jail, or worse, dead, at the hands of a police officer, has been failed by our system, either directly because of our over-policing, or indirectly because we have failed to invest in the things that uproot poverty in communities across the country,\u201d he said.The Daily Wire reached out to El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit, to explain his stance on defunding the police.\u00a0\u201cAbdul worked closely with law enforcement as Director of Health, Human, and Veterans services for Wayne County. As hands-on experience always allows, his perspective has become more nuanced,\u201d campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner told The Daily Wire. \u201cOne simple word has never been enough to fully explain the reforms we need for a challenge as complex as our criminal legal system.\u201dRichner added that El-Sayed believes \u201cwe need to improve law enforcement recruitment, retention, and retirement funding so that law enforcement officers come from the communities they serve.\u201d El-Sayed also supports \u201ccommunity violence intervention\u201d policies and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Richner said. The act would weaken legal protections for police officers.\u00a0That response was similar to the comment given to CNN for an article highlighting El-Sayed\u2019s history of anti-police rhetoric. The outlet noted that El-Sayed had deleted at least a dozen posts pushing defund the police policies.\u00a0\u201cMost major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,\u201d he wrote in one post from June 2020 that he later deleted.\u00a0El-Sayed, who claims that Floyd was the victim of an \u201cassassination\u201d and was \u201clynched,\u201d suggested during a seminar hosted by the University of Michigan that police officers should not be armed.\u00a0\u201cSo we have to ask ourselves, do police departments really need tanks and weapons of war and the material that\u2019s coming back as hand-me-downs from the military abroad? Do police really need to use guns? Do we need as much of a police force?\u201d he asked.\u00a0He added that the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement was about getting the government to move away from \u201cracist ideologies\u201d that led police to \u201cinvest in war material\u201d for law enforcement.During his time pushing anti-police rhetoric, El-Sayed was heavily involved in a group called Michigan United which compared police officers to \u201cslave catchers\u201d and helped organize a protest that turned into a riot, the Washington Free Beacon reported.","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts.","datePublished":"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076"},"wordCount":857,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076","name":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts. - Blue Route Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-09T14:38:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4b90b1b8767a6013114853b7f53a7a4b.avif","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1076#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Yes, Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed Really Wants To Defund The Police. Here Are The Receipts."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/","name":"Blue Route Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/blueroutejournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}