Overview
- Reporting shows Eman Abdelhadi is an associate professor at the University of Chicago and the maternal half‑sister of Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El‑Sayed.
- Court and booking records confirm Abdelhadi was arrested and charged in October 2025 after a protest near a suburban Chicago ICE facility, with prosecutors alleging she spit on an Illinois state trooper and filing felony aggravated battery counts.
- Archived social posts and a video have surfaced in which Abdelhadi praised the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, called for a “student intifada,” and offered an October 7th blessing while wearing a keffiyeh, accounts that critics say show support for militant actions.
- The University of Chicago has been reported to have opened an inquiry into Abdelhadi’s conduct after she publicly denounced the school, and outlets on the right have amplified the material to press political attacks on El‑Sayed.
- El‑Sayed’s campaign has said he loves his sister but disagrees with her politics; the disclosures add to existing scrutiny of his record and could influence turnout and outside spending in a competitive Michigan general election.