A 21-year-old Valencia man was arrested Friday after federal agents say he purchased a semiautomatic rifle, five magazines and 190 rounds of ammunition while plotting a violent attack in support of ISIS, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed this week.
Jonathan Hunter Kramer was taken into custody by FBI agents at a hotel in Cranberry Township, Butler County, after investigators tracked his movements over several days. He is charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a federal crime of terrorism, including material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to the complaint, Kramer had been communicating online under the name “Hamza Al Rashid,” claiming affiliation with ISIS and offering to distribute explosives manuals. He allegedly wrote that he was preparing for his “mission” but was still missing a “weapon.”
A History With Federal Investigators
The FBI had prior contact with Kramer dating to 2023, when he was a minor. At that time he was charged and adjudicated delinquent in Pennsylvania in connection with a plot to carry out a mass-casualty attack, and for possessing child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said.
Investigators reopened their inquiry after receiving an anonymous tip on March 19, shortly after Kramer’s release from a juvenile detention facility. The tipster reported that Kramer was receiving “mysterious” packages and had resumed contact with “his friends from before” his juvenile case.
Surveillance Leads to Arrest
On Friday, FBI agents watched Kramer leave his home carrying a bag and take a rideshare to a store, where he bought a disposable phone. He then met another individual in a parking lot, retrieved a long black bag from the trunk of a vehicle, and traveled to a hotel in Cranberry Township, where he paid cash for a room. Witnesses at both the store and the hotel told investigators the bag made a metallic clicking sound when Kramer set it down.
After checking in, Kramer visited 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 the rifle, magazines and ammunition, along with a rifle scope, a bipod, an entrenchment tool, pepper spray and roughly 30 knives. Investigators also recovered a handwritten note that read: “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”
Officials React
Attorney General Todd Blanche noted the arrest came as the nation 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.
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