In 2012, the Democratic frontrunner for the Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, wrote an op-ed in which he blamed the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the death of a Muslim woman, Shaima Alawadi, on racism in America.
Most of us know the Martin story. Far fewer know about Alawadi, an Iraqi immigrant and mother of five who was beaten to death with a tire iron in a California neighborhood. Here's some of what El-Sayed wrote in that op-ed (emphasis added):
Trayvon and Shaima were both murdered in cold blood. Why? Because Trayvon, a black kid in a hoodie, and Shaima, a Middle Eastern woman in a hijab, both fit archetypes indicted by American society as foreign, dangerous, and evil. And rather than take the time to learn what either of these victims were up to — Trayvon getting a quick snack during halftime, or Shaima raising an upstanding American family — their assailants assumed them into the roles society teaches about them, everyday.
...
The troubling murders of Trayvon and Shaima have re-opened the public conversation about hate crimes in American society. Vexingly, though, this conversation has focused almost solely on particularities of the individual cases themselves — on Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, or the push to prosecute George Zimmerman, for example. Yet while that wayward law or Zimmerman’s perplexing freedom are important and need to be rectified, we’re missing the main culprit.
More offensive and unjust is the unfettered messaging from some of our country’s most trusted institutions that continues to create the climate of fear, suspicion and hatred that ultimately led to these tragic murders. If we are serious about preventing the next hate crime, deconstructing and eliminating the onslaught against racial, class, or religious symbols in our media discourse and our government’s actions must be a priority.
That's interesting and ironic for several reasons, including the fact that Democrats like El-Sayed have no problem creating a 'climate of fear, suspicion, and hatred' towards Republicans, conservatives, and White Americans. They routinely do this, with the hope that one of their Leftist foot soldiers will use that permission structure to harm conservatives. On Memorial Day, 69-year-old veteran Kerry Sheron died from injuries he sustained in an unprovoked attack outside his Escondido, California, home. Sheron's wife believes the attack was politically motivated, as their house was decorated with American flags and Trump signs.
But what's even more interesting is this: Shaima Alawadi wasn't the victim of a hate crime. She was beaten to death by her Muslim husband, reportedly because she planned to divorce him and move to Texas.
NEW: Abdul El-Sayed — frontrunner to be the Dem nominee for Senate in Michigan — pushed a viral “Hoodies & Hijabs” hate crime hoax which blamed the murder of an Iraqi woman in California on American bigotry. The murderer was actually… her Muslim husband.https://t.co/WV41IBhT4P
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) June 3, 2026
Here's more:
While El-Sayed sought to blame the innocent Muslim woman’s murder on alleged Islamophobia and hatred inside America, the actual murderer was soon determined by police to actually be her husband, Kassim Alhimidi, a fellow Muslim and Iraqi exile who smashed her skull, likely with a tire iron, after he discovered she was planning to divorce him and move away to Texas. Alhimidi’s attack on Alawadi occurred on March 21, 2012, and she succumbed to her fatal wounds after being taken off of life support on March 24, 2012.
The polling average by Real Clear Polling suggests that El-Sayed is the slight frontrunner in the Democratic primary, where his opponents are Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow.
El-Sayed penned an opinion piece for Mic — titled “From Trayvon Martin Hoodies to Shaima Alawadi Hijabs: Who is Responsible for Hate in America?” — just four days after Alawadi’s death, baselessly claiming Martin had been killed because he wore a hoodie and that Alawadi had been killed because she wore a hijab, and wrongly blaming the woman’s death on “racism, xenophobia, and hate” in American society.
Kassim Alhimidi was convicted of the crime in 2014. In the 12 years since that conviction, El-Sayed has never issued a retraction or changed his assertion that Alawadi was killed because of Islam and domestic abuse, not Islamophobia.
@wil_da_beast630 another fake hate crime
— Sour Patch Mom ن (@sourpatchlyds) June 3, 2026
That list keeps growing.
They will look you in the eye, smile, and tell you whatever lie they think will make you feel good.
— Joe Citizen 🇺🇸 🇵🇱 🇺🇸 (@JoeCitizen15) June 3, 2026
Or whatever lie helps them gain and keep power.
It’s almost as if Islam encourages its adherents to lie for political gain.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) June 3, 2026
Who would have thought? https://t.co/OK6wxwwea0
Lying is accepted in Islam if it furthers Islamic causes.
The left is garbage so it shouldn't be surprising that all they have is garbage candidates to offer
— Katie Rozze (@katierozze) June 3, 2026
It's clear the Democrats are now the party of Islamists and terrorists.
Where can I read about this in the Washington Post? https://t.co/nAiNMF83WJ
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 3, 2026
Don't hold your breath for that story.
Man, you think you know a Hezbollah supporter and then he goes and does this https://t.co/DMrpViCNAb
— Sunny (@sunnyright) June 3, 2026
This was a total surprise. Not.
Sarsour plucked Abdul El-Sayed from relative obscurity when he ran the failed bid for Michigan gov in 2018 which put him on the map & set him up for a possible Senate win in 2026. So of course she was right there with him in 2012 pushing what turned out to be a hate crime hoax. https://t.co/xnQFkPGFS0
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) June 3, 2026
Of course.
Sometimes, people criticize America because they love America and want to be better.
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) June 3, 2026
But sometimes, they’re just terrorists who hate America and want to destroy America because the kuffar deserve to be eliminated. https://t.co/nWotOxiG1Z
This is the latter, and El-Sayed may get a chance if he's elected to the Senate. Michigan voters need to make sure that doesn't happen.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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