Aiyash, Onwenu Break Out In Parking Lot Argument Following Forum

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/22/2026) (DETROIT) – A fiery exchange broke out between Democratic SD-1 candidates Justin Onwenu and Abraham Aiyash following a candidate forum for their race. Onwenu accused Aiyash of telling him that there was a "silver lining" to the war in the Middle East in that it benefited his campaign.

Meanwhile, Aiyash criticized him for accepting money from a political action committee (PAC) that's been linked previously to Detroit's controversial Moroun family, who owns the Ambassador Bridge.

Dozens of residents in the 1st state Senate district – covering a large portion of Detroit and Downriver communities like Wyandotte, Ecorse and River Rouge – attended a forum tonight at the LOVE Building.

Aiyash, a progressive, was the 2023-24 House majority floor leader in Michigan. Onwenu currently serves as the city of Detroit's small business affairs director.

In a highly contested primary, the two represent different points of division within Democratic circles. Aiyash scrutinized Onwenu for his unwillingness to call Israel's military campaign in Gaza a "genocide." Onwenu also criticized Aiyash for not publicly endorsing former Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024, as calls to be non-committed rose over the Democratic leader's ties to Israel at the time.

What started as laughter-filled greetings in front of MIRS and Detroit one million turned into an allegation from Onwenu.

"When someone is running thousands of dollars worth of ads full of dog whistles and lies about me, I think it's important to question their motivation," Onwenu said.

Onwenu alleged that in the parking lot of Kitab, a local coffee shop, he and Aiyash met "for four hours," with Aiyash revealing that folks were criticizing him about Hamtramck's decision to ban LGBTQ pride flags. Aiyash resided in Hamtramck – which is not in the 1st Senate district – while serving in the House, but later moved into Detroit.

"And then he saw the silver lining … all that's going on in Israel and Gaza was actually beneficial to his career. He said that, and now he's running thousands of dollars worth of ads about an issue that he has no control over. That I have no control over," he said. "When his own country was falling into division, and questions about whether we would elect a fascist or whether we would elect the first Black woman president, he didn't endorse her."

Aiyash said the comment about seeing a "silver lining" in Gaza was a lie. He added that if Democrat Kamala Harris lost because of a state representative not endorsing her, he would be on a book tour in Iowa, South Carolina and Georgia instead of running for the Michigan Senate.

"The bombing of innocent men, women and children indiscriminately is a genocide. Hamtramck should not have banned the Pride flag. These are two indisputable facts. These are things that I'm saying with moral clarity," Aiyash said. "My opponent is too cowardly to speak up on whether or not it's a genocide, folks."

Onwenu left seven minutes into the exchange, suggesting that Aiyash get hooked up to a “lie detector.”

Additionally, Aiyash spent the forum targeting Onwenu for benefiting from the Detroit Next PAC, which Bridge Detroit described in October 2025 as a "destination" for undisclosed donors that maxed out on direct gifts to now-Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield's campaign.

It noted that Central Transport, the business owned by the Moroun family, which owns the Ambassador Bridge between Canada and Detroit, "gave $25,000."

When asked about the Detroit Next PAC, Onwenu told MIRS it was an independent PAC that he has zero insider coordination with.

During the forum, when asked about legislation to provide IDs to immigrants, or the "Drive SAFE" bills, Aiyash said they were not taken up last term because of "chickenshit Democrats that refused to lead in this moment to say that those people deserve dignity."

Aiyash has been endorsed by term-limited Sens. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) and Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), as well as Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), who's seeking to become the caucus' next leader after the 2026 elections. Aiyash said he supports Camilleri's leadership pursuit "without question."

He added that he's not concerned about any impact of calling Democrats last term "chickenshit" tonight.

"I have my friends at the Capitol and I have people that don't like me at the Capitol. But I still get three REM cycles a night," Aiyash said. "If you ask me, the biggest mistake in the Democratic majority, in the Democratic trifecta, is we allowed the politics of decorum to supersede the politics of dignity of working people."

The actual forum can be viewed here.