Michigan Democrat confirms sister-in-law's watchlist involvement before Obama rally

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 18 Oct, 18:31 · Archive

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed acknowledged that his sister-in-law was on the federal Terrorism Screening Database.

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, confirmed Saturday that his sister-in-law, Mariam Jukaku, was on the federal Terrorism Screening Database after being confronted by Fox News with court documents from a 2016 lawsuit challenging her placement on the watchlist.

According to the complaint, Jukaku underwent additional airport screening in 2012 and alleged she was never told why she had been flagged. El-Sayed said she sued and won, though a federal appeals court overturned a ruling favoring the plaintiffs in 2021. A separate damages lawsuit was dismissed in 2017.

El-Sayed defended his sister-in-law, saying she had 'committed no wrongdoing' and criticised the watchlist system as one where people were 'guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like Mike Rogers set up'. Rogers is El-Sayed's Republican Senate rival. The confirmation came days before Obama was scheduled to campaign alongside El-Sayed on 24 October, ahead of the November midterm election.

How it is being reported

• Democrat star admits family's terror watchlist ties ahead of planned campaign rally with Obama: 'She did nothing wrong'Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Michigan, confirmed over the weekend that a member of his family was on a federal terror watch list.Daily Mail · 18 Oct, 18:15
• Michigan Democrat confirms sister-in-law's terror watchlist lawsuit days before Obama campaign appearanceAbdul El-Sayed acknowledged his sister-in-law's involvement in a federal terrorist watchlist lawsuit, days before former President Barack Obama campaigns with him.Fox News · 18 Oct, 03:33

In this story: Abdul El-Sayed · Mariam Jukaku · Barack Obama · Mike Rogers · Michigan

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