Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh have charged a 21 year old Butler County man with receiving a firearm and ammunition that they say he intended to use in a terrorism related crime inspired by the Islamic State. The accusation, filed by criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, remains unproven. Jonathan Hunter Kramer is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds him guilty.
Kramer, a resident of Valencia, was already known to the FBI. According to an affidavit supporting the complaint, investigators first focused on him in 2023, when he was a minor. Pennsylvania authorities later adjudicated him delinquent for his alleged role in a mass casualty plot and for possessing child sexual abuse material. He was held in a juvenile treatment program and released in March 2026.
On March 19, shortly after that release, an anonymous tipster told the FBI that Kramer had resumed troubling behavior. The tip described mysterious packages, renewed contact with people from before his juvenile case, and renewed concern about his online activity. Agents say they then linked him to an online persona using the name Hamza Al Rashid. That account, prosecutors allege, claimed affiliation with ISIS, offered to share explosives manuals, and said he was preparing for a “mission” but still needed a weapon.
One message cited in reporting on the affidavit stated that he was preparing for his mission, needed a weapon, and would be ready once he had one. The affidavit describes a longer digital trail. Investigators allege Kramer previously used names including Nikolas Cruz and the Telegram handle ShootIntoACrowd, posted material about explosives and car bombs, and discussed attack concepts such as crowds, choke points, fire, and other methods of causing mass harm.
Agents also say a 2023 search of his family home recovered a recording in which he pledged allegiance to the late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. At least one later message attributed to him denied ISIS membership and described the posts as curiosity or a hobby. Prosecutors treat that denial as inconsistent with his other communications and with the items later seized. What investigators have not alleged is a locked in target.
Court papers reviewed by multiple news organizations do not name a specific venue, date, or intended victims for a completed attack plan. Officials instead describe general discussion of crowds and other soft targets, plus the acquisition of a rifle and ammunition. That distinction matters. The government is accusing Kramer of gathering weapons for an ISIS inspired “mission.”
It has not publicly proven that he selected a particular place or group of people. Surveillance intensified on September 12. Agents say Kramer left home carrying a bag, took a rideshare to a store, bought a disposable phone, then met someone in a parking lot and took a long black bag from a vehicle trunk. Witnesses later said the bag made a metallic sound.
Kramer then paid cash for a room at the Cranberry Park Hotel in Cranberry Township, about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh, and went to a sporting goods store, where agents saw him at the gun counter. FBI agents approached him that Saturday as he returned to the hotel with bags from the store. Inside those bags, according to the Justice Department, were three 30 round rifle magazines and five boxes of rifle ammunition. Kramer agreed to speak with agents and set the bags down.
Search warrants followed for his person, hotel room, and residence. Agents say they seized a semiautomatic rifle, five magazines including two that were loaded, a bipod, a scope, about 190 rounds of rifle ammunition, pepper spray, a prayer rug, an entrenchment tool, Faraday bags used to block phone signals, and about 30 knives at the home. They also recovered a handwritten note that read, in irregular capitalization: “DoNt look For me. IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear.”
Kramer was charged with receiving a firearm and ammunition knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, including providing, attempting to provide, or conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. The statute matching that accusation, 18 U.S.C. Section 924(h), carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and a fine if a jury convicts. He has not been convicted.
Material support is described in the complaint as the alleged intended crime, not a separate proven count. He made an initial appearance on September 14. Prosecutors asked that he be held without bond as a danger to the community. The federal public defender’s office is representing him and declined comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. McKenna and Justice Department National Security Division trial attorneys Andrew Briggs and Matthew Hracho are prosecuting the case. Attorney General Todd Blanche said investigators “thwarted this alleged attack before innocent lives could be lost.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said Kramer was “allegedly plotting a violent attack in support of ISIS.” Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said Kramer appeared to be preparing for a mass shooting after securing a rifle and about 190 rounds “for what he called his ‘mission.’” U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti called the recent conduct “profoundly concerning.”
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec said an alarming threat exists when someone reportedly pledges allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization and then makes final preparations. Those statements are the government’s theory. The complaint is an accusation. No trial has tested the evidence, identified the person who allegedly handed over the black bag, or established that an attack was hours away.
What is confirmed is narrower: a 21 year old from Valencia was arrested after federal agents say he obtained a rifle, magazines, and roughly 190 rounds of ammunition, and prosecutors now must prove their case in court.
