Man Charged With Killing Former Trump Adviser’s Mother Arraigned On Hate-Crime Charges

The man accused of killing the mother of a former top Trump Middle East adviser was arraigned Monday on a hate-crime indictment over accusations that he vandalized a kosher bagel shop displaying Israeli flags in Queens, New York, days before the fatal crash.

Dawood Faisal, 22, faces two counts of criminal mischief in the third degree as a hate crime for the May 15 and May 23 incidents at Bagels & Co. in the heavily Jewish Fresh Meadows neighborhood, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. 

Prosecutors say Faisal targeted the kosher shop on Union Turnpike because it is Jewish-owned and displays Israeli flags and banners. On May 15, he allegedly knocked over nine metal plant stands, spilling dirt and plants onto the sidewalk before throwing dirt at the storefront twice. He allegedly returned around 1 a.m. on May 23, pushing and kicking 11 metal plant stands and emptying their contents onto the sidewalk. After failing to knock over a nearby large clay pot, he allegedly uprooted the plants inside it.

“As alleged, Dawood Faisal, repeatedly targeted a Fresh Meadows business specifically because it is Jewish-owned and featured Israeli flags, and destroyed property as an expression of antisemitism,” Katz said in a statement. “Bias crimes are an affront to our entire community and will not be tolerated.”

@bukhariancommunity via Instagram

Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis ordered Faisal to return to court on November 12. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison on the hate-crime charges.

The indictment comes months after Faisal was accused of causing the death of 71-year-old Cara Trager, the mother of Eric Trager, a former senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on President Donald Trump’s National Security Council.

On May 25, Faisal allegedly drove a Toyota Prius at more than 75 mph in a 35 mph zone, ran at least two red lights, and collided with two vehicles on Francis Lewis Boulevard. The impact sent one of the vehicles into a crosswalk, striking Cara Trager and her husband, Michael, as they walked home from dinner.

Trager suffered severe head trauma and died four days later. Her husband sustained a shoulder injury, cuts to his hands, and bruising to his face.

Faisal was indicted in June on manslaughter, assault, and other charges in connection with the crash. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The second incident, which involved vandalism at Bagels & Co., occurred just two days before Trager was struck. Her daughter, Rachel Sales, later wrote that her mother had discussed the incidents with her shortly before the crash.

The family has questioned whether Trager’s death could have been prevented if authorities had intervened after the alleged antisemitic attacks.

Although authorities are not investigating the crash as a hate crime, Trager’s husband, Michael, told The Daily Wire in August that the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death deserve scrutiny, particularly given the heavily Jewish neighborhood where the crash occurred and Faisal’s alleged attacks on the Jewish business days earlier.

Cara Trager (Courtesy)

“My contention is that the area itself is very, very Jewish,” Michael told The Daily Wire. “It’s Bukharian, it’s a Russian Jewish area, and most of the people who were eyewitnesses, the people who detained him, were Bukharian Jews.”

Michael recalled the moment he realized his wife had been struck in an interview with The Daily Wire, describing himself as “dazed” and struggling to understand what had happened.

“The first thing I did was I started punching myself to say, ‘Oh, gee, I’m still alive here,’” Michael recalled. “Then I saw that my wife was dead. I couldn’t believe it happened because I didn’t do anything wrong. We were crossing the street, and next thing I know, I’m on the ground with my wife.”

Michael attended Faisal’s initial arraignment just days after the crash, while Trager was hospitalized and dying from her injuries. 

“I was afraid that my wife was going to officially die when I’m at the arraignment, but I went,” Michael said, adding that Faisal’s family was also present at the proceeding and that his mother repeatedly cried while sitting in the courtroom.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘What are you crying for? Are you crying for your son, or are you crying because your son killed my wife? Why are you crying?’” Michael said.

Michael said authorities had told him Faisal was neither working nor attending school and had not been under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the crash.

Michael said the circumstances made it more likely that the victims would be Jewish, while acknowledging that this did not prove his wife had been specifically targeted.

“If you’re going to do that kind of act in that area, at that time, you’re more than likely, if you’re going to kill somebody, to kill a Jew,” he said.

Trager was a longtime Queens journalist who was active in her Jewish community throughout her life. She wrote for publications including Newsday, the New York Post, and Crain’s New York Business, and produced publications and marketing materials for Jewish organizations including UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Theological Seminary. 

NYPD data for July showed that Jews were the targets of nearly 70% of confirmed hate crimes reported in New York City that month, despite making up roughly 10% of the city’s population.

More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism

Donate to GOTPeople.org