What Do We Know? Son of Egyptian Minister Murdered 2 in the US

It was not until a month later that Egyptians got the news of a murder committed in the United States by the son of their Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs, one that has prompted various reactions on many levels.

On the 20th of April, 2022, US media reported a double homicide in a residential complex in Anaheim, California, resulting in two deaths and one injury of a 26-year-old man who has been taken into custody, facing homicide charges.

However, as the news made it to Egyptian and Middle Eastern media, a different angel was spotted. The man accused of the two murders turned out to be the son of Egypt's long-serving ambassador, diplomat and politician, the current Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs, Nabila Makram. 

According to his website, Fahim, a US-born, graduated with a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of Southern California in 2017 before obtaining his MS in Data Science from Columbia University in 2019. 

The Crime

Makram's 26-years-old son, Ramy Fahim, has been accused of stabbing two men to death in the early hours of the 20th of April. The two victims were identified as 23-year-old Griffin Cuomo, a coworker of Fahim, and Cuomo's roommate Jonathan Bahm.

Motivation

Police in Orange County, California continue investigations with Fahim to better understand his motives, which remain unclear on an official level.

However, the internet has rushed to present a number of theories over possible motivations, including one that claimed Fahim was gay and in a relationship with his now-deceased coworker.

Despite the lack of confirmed sources, internet people speculated that their alleged relationship had triggered motives for the crime.

Translation: "Ramy Fahim was in a gay relationship with one of the victims who had cheated on him with the other victim. So he killed them both"

Another theory shed light on the owner of Pence Wealth Management LPL, the firm at which Ramy Fahim was working. Internet people talked about Pence's owner, by Egyptian-American businesswoman Laila Pence, who was publically welcomed and officially honored by the Egyptian Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram earlier this year to discuss business plans in Egypt.

Translation: "All about Laile Pence and the Minister of Immigration. Young Ramy Hany Monuir Fahim, accused of killing two people in California was working at Pence Wealth Management, owned by a businesswoman of Egyptian origins Laila Pence."

Users highlighting this information suggested that Markam had used her connection with Pence to get her son the job at the firm, at which he met Griffin Cuomo in 2021.

Others speculated that Pence's wealth management firm with many ties to Egyptian officials may have granted Fahim access to information related to wealth owned by Egyptian officials, which may interpret the efforts put by Egypt's embassy into the case and their work to bring him back to Egypt.

Egyptian Embassy Efforts

While Ramy Fahim remains in custody, various online people discussed potential efforts by the Egyptian Embassy in the United States, ones aiming to release him on bail to bring him back to Egypt, especially since he might be facing the death penalty. 

Some people said that the embassy has already devoted thousands of dollars to a law firm representing Ramy Fahim. Newsweek has also reported involvement by the Egyptian Embassy in the US in the case. However, Egyptian sources have not yet confirmed or denied such reports.

Ramy Fahim's Twitter

Online people also looked up Ramy Fahim's Twitter account out of curiosity, which revealed unexpected tweets about being sexually molested in his childhood, the books he was reading, and his pursuit of affordable therapy, suggesting he suffered from mental illnesses. 

The Minister Facing Calls for Resignation 

As soon as Ramy Fahim's case made it to Egyptian media, many voices started to call on Minister Nabila Makram to resign, saying she should not be part of the government as long as her son is accused of a murder case.

While some unconfirmed rumors claimed that Makram attempted to resign, saying Egyptian authorities rejected her resignation and encouraged her to stay in her post.

Makram took to Facebook to talk about the difficult times her family is going through, saying she will do her best to perform her duties without letting the case affect her job.

While her post prompted sympathy from many Egyptian commentators who expressed respect for her strength and determination to continue doing her job in such a crisis, others argued that her post might affect the case and hoped she left her office.

The Minister's 2019 Controversial Video

The Ramy Fahim murder case has reminded many Egyptian social media users of a 2019 video that had sparked controversy back then, as Minister Nabila Makram appeared in a video during an official meeting with representatives of the Egyptian community in Canada, at which she had talked about "cutting" critics abroad, suggesting that her "violent expression makes more sense now that her son has stabbed two people to death".