Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists'
A 2007 University of Michigan demonstration against three men who spoke about their past involvement with militant groups has resurfaced.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Abdul El-Sayed once led protest against 'ex-terrorists'
Photograph: Internewscast (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Abdul El-Sayed led a protest at the University of Michigan in 2007 against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists' who had converted to Christianity.
- The speakers, Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Annani, and Kamal Saleem, had previously been involved with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood.
- El-Sayed's campaign stated he has 'unequivocally denounced terrorism' and protested speakers spreading misinformation.
- The protest and El-Sayed's leadership role in the Muslim Students Association, an organization alleged to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, have resurfaced.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
41/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, led a protest in 2007 at the University of Michigan against three speakers who identified as 'ex-terrorists' and discussed their conversion to Christianity. The speakers, Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Annani, and Kamal Saleem, had previously been involved with groups including the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood. The resurfaced event has drawn attention to El-Sayed's past leadership role in the Muslim Students Association, an organization alleged to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The protest targeted an event where Shoebat, Annani, and Saleem spoke about their past involvement with militant groups before converting to Christianity. El-Sayed, who was vice president of the Muslim Students Association at the time, praised the demonstration. His campaign spokesperson, Cole Wozniak, told Fox News Digital that El-Sayed has 'unequivocally denounced terrorism' and protested against speakers spreading misinformation and fabricating their backstories. The New York Times reported in 2008 that critics questioned the backgrounds of these speakers and why they had not been arrested or deported.
Disagreement on protest motivation
Organisers of the University of Michigan event told the Michigan Daily that the gathering was intended to educate attendees about the dangers of Muslim extremism, not to promote intolerance. However, protesters wearing yellow countered that the event was unfairly 'generalizing an entire group of people'.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated reports ran this story. The centre-rated report and the right-rated reports did not mention the specific concerns raised by Arab-American civil rights organizations in 2008 regarding why the speakers had not been arrested or deported.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 15 Sept 2026, 00:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- Internewscast, the centre-rated report, led with Abdul El-Sayed protesting against 'ex-terrorists' who had converted to Christianity. The report detailed El-Sayed's role in organising the 2007 demonstration at the University of Michigan against speakers Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Annani, and Kamal Saleem. It noted that the speakers had previously been involved with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood. The report included a quote from El-Sayed praising the protest and a statement from his campaign spokesperson, Cole Wozniak, denouncing terrorism and misinformation. Internewscast also reported on the New York Times' 2008 scrutiny of the speakers' backgrounds and mentioned the alleged ties of the Muslim Students Association to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Right
6 rated outlets
- The six right-rated reports led with Abdul El-Sayed protesting against 'ex-terrorists' who converted to Christianity. These reports highlighted El-Sayed's position as Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee and his role in the 2007 University of Michigan protest. They identified the speakers as Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Annani, and Kamal Saleem, noting their past involvement with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood. The right-rated reports included El-Sayed's quote about doing 'something good' and his campaign spokesperson's statement that he had 'unequivocally denounced terrorism'. The New York Times' 2008 reporting on questions surrounding the speakers' backgrounds was also mentioned across these reports. Several of these reports also noted the alleged ties of the Muslim Students Association to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists'?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists' left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists' biased?
- Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists' is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists'?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Abdul El-Sayed led protest against speakers described as 'ex-terrorists'?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What was the protest Abdul El-Sayed led in 2007 about?
- Abdul El-Sayed led a protest at the University of Michigan in 2007 against three speakers described as 'ex-terrorists' who had previously been involved with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Muslim Brotherhood. The speakers were discussing their conversion to Christianity.
- What is the significance of the Muslim Students Association in this story?
- Abdul El-Sayed was vice president of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at the time of the 2007 protest. The MSA has been alleged to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that has faced scrutiny from the US government.
- What do Abdul El-Sayed's campaign say about the protest?
- El-Sayed's campaign spokesperson stated that the candidate has 'unequivocally denounced terrorism.' The spokesperson added that El-Sayed protested against speakers who were spreading misinformation and fabricating their backstories, and that these speakers had been widely condemned by experts.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
6- Abdul El-Sayed protested against ‘ex-terrorists’ who converted to Christianity, unearthed report reveals (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed Led Protest Against ‘Ex-Terrorists’ Who Abandoned Islamic Extremism, Converted to Christianity (opens Slay News in a new tab)
- Abdul El-Sayed protested against ‘ex-terrorists’ who converted to Christianity, unearthed report reveals (opens wfmd.com in a new tab)
- Abdul El-Sayed protested against 'ex-terrorists' who converted to Christianity, unearthed report reveals (opens nytimespost.com in a new tab)
nytimespost.com — is nytimespost.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Abdul El-Sayed protested against ‘ex-terrorists’ who converted to Christianity, unearthed report reveals (opens khbrknews in a new tab)
- Abdul El-Sayed protested against 'ex-terrorists' who converted to Christianity, unearthed report reveals (opens Fox News in a new tab)
Not rated
2- Abdul El-Sayed once led protest against 'ex-terrorists' (opens Felix Victorino in a new tab)
Felix Victorino — is Felix Victorino biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ICYMI: Abdul El-Sayed protested against 'ex-terrorists' who converted to Christianity (opens Senate Leadership Fund in a new tab)
Senate Leadership Fund — is Senate Leadership Fund biased? Our profile of this outlet
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