A 21-year-old Valencia man was arrested at a Cranberry Township hotel after federal agents say he had been openly pledging loyalty to ISIS online and was in the final stages of acquiring a weapon for what he called his “mission.” The Justice Department announced the arrest Tuesday.
Jonathan Hunter Kramer faces a federal charge of receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, including providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a criminal complaint.
Kramer was not unknown to the FBI. As a minor in 2023, he was charged and adjudicated delinquent in Pennsylvania for his part in a plot to carry out a mass-casualty attack, and for possessing child sexual abuse material.
Investigators reopened their inquiry after an anonymous tip on March 19, shortly after Kramer’s release from juvenile detention. The tipster said he was receiving “mysterious” packages and had resumed “talking to his friends from before” his prior case.
Agents say Kramer had been operating online under the name “Hamza Al Rashid,” claiming ties to ISIS and offering to distribute explosives manuals. He allegedly described preparing for a “mission” and said he still lacked a “weapon.”
On Friday, FBI surveillance teams watched Kramer leave his home with a bag and take a rideshare to a store, where he bought a disposable phone. He then met another person in a parking lot, retrieved a long black bag from a vehicle’s trunk, and traveled to a hotel in Cranberry Township, where he paid cash for a room. Witnesses at both the store and the hotel reported the bag made a metallic clicking sound when set down.
Kramer then went to a sporting goods store, where agents observed him at the gun counter. When he returned to the hotel carrying two bags from the store, agents moved in and arrested him.
Searches of Kramer, his hotel room and his home turned up a semiautomatic rifle, five rifle magazines — two loaded, three capable of holding 30 rounds each — and 190 rounds of rifle ammunition. Agents also recovered a rifle scope, a bipod, an entrenchment tool, pepper spray and roughly 30 knives. A handwritten note found in the search read: “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”
Attorney General Todd Blanche noted the arrest came as the country marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. “Their outstanding work thwarted this alleged attack before innocent lives could be lost,” Blanche said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Kramer had been “plotting a violent attack in support of ISIS,” pointing to his online activity and his acquisition of weapons.
The Justice Department has not identified a specific target for the alleged plot.
Kramer was booked into the Butler County Jail and made his first court appearance Monday. Prosecutors have asked that he be held without bond, arguing he poses a danger to the community.
