Pennsylvania Man Arrested Over Alleged ISIS Attack Plot, DOJ Says

A 21-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of planning a violent attack in support of ISIS was arrested after FBI agents followed him to a hotel and recovered a semiautomatic rifle, five magazines and 190 rounds of ammunition, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Jonathan Hunter Kramer of Valencia allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, offered to circulate explosives manuals online and said he was preparing for a “mission” but needed a weapon before agents intervened, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Kramer faces a charge of receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, they would be used to commit a felony or federal terrorism offense. The alleged offenses include providing or attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The FBI had known about Kramer since a 2023 investigation, when he was a minor. At that time, he was charged and adjudicated delinquent in Pennsylvania for his role in an alleged mass-casualty attack plot and for possessing child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said.

Authorities reopened their investigation after receiving an anonymous tip on March 19, shortly after Kramer was released from a juvenile detention facility. The tipster reported that he had been ordering “mysterious” packages and communicating with “his friends from before” his juvenile adjudication.

Investigators said Kramer used the online alias “Hamza Al Rashid,” claimed ties to ISIS and offered to distribute explosives manuals. He allegedly discussed preparing for his “mission” and said he lacked a “weapon.”

On Friday, FBI agents watched Kramer leave his home carrying a bag and take a rideshare to a store, where he purchased a disposable phone, the complaint said.

He then met another individual in the 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 hotel said the bag made a metallic clicking sound when Kramer set it down.

After checking into the hotel, Kramer went to a sporting goods store, where agents observed him at the gun counter.

Agents approached him when he returned to the hotel carrying two bags from the store. Searches of Kramer, his hotel room and his home turned up a semiautomatic rifle, five rifle magazines — two loaded and three capable of holding 30 rounds each — and 190 rounds of rifle ammunition, according to the complaint.

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Agents also found a rifle scope and bipod, an entrenchment tool, pepper spray and about 30 knives. A handwritten note read, “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the arrest came as Americans marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist 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,” citing his online activity and acquisition of weapons.

The Justice Department did not identify a specific target for the alleged attack.

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 that he poses a danger to the community.