A Pennsylvania man with a history of plotting a mass-casualty attack as a minor was charged on Tuesday with obtaining a semiautomatic rifle to carry out an attack for ISIS after he discussed strategies to target non-Muslims, according to court documents.
Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, was arrested on Sunday after agents descended on a hotel room in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. He was charged with receiving a firearm with the intention to be used in a felony or act of terrorism.
In a criminal complaint and probable cause affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors allege that Kramer, using a Telegram username @ShootIntoACrowd, “posted threatening statements alluding to an unidentified act to occur within three months as well as documents on how to make explosives, C4, and car bombs.”
A magistrate judge ordered Kramer detained at his initial appearance on Monday in connection with the new case, according to the public docket.
A public defender assigned to Kramer’s case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The subject in this case was allegedly plotting a violent attack in support of ISIS — engaging with ISIS propaganda online, building attack concepts, and repeatedly expressing extremist rhetoric — all while acquiring weapons believed to be in preparation of the attack,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement released Tuesday.
Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that Kramer’s efforts were thwarted by the “outstanding work” of federal law enforcement as the country observed the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11. Agents “thwarted this alleged attack before innocent lives could be lost,” Blanche said in a statement.
During Kramer’s arrest, federal investigators seized a Panther Arms semiautomatic rifle, over 150 rounds of ammunition, two loaded rifle magazines, a rifle bipod and scope, a prayer rug and pepper spray, among other materials. His phone was tucked into two Faraday bags, which conceal a device’s signal, and he carried a burner phone, the complaint says.
The suspect remarked to the FBI at the time of the search that he was “f–ked,” according to the complaint.
At his parents’ home, the FBI said it found 30 knives and an undated note that read: “DoNt look For me[.] IDK what I did buT I cant live In constant Fear[.]”
According to the complaint, Kramer was on the Justice Department’s radar since 2023 for his activity in a Telegram chat room. In that chat room, he allegedly discussed plans to carry out an attack and received pornographic images and videos from a minor.
In the complaint, FBI special agent Gregory Battaglia wrote that in April 2023 he searched Kramer’s home, where he lived with his parents, and found a laptop with a recording of Kramer reciting a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.
From April 2023 to March 2026, Kramer was in a juvenile detention facility. When he was released, a probation officer informed the FBI that he had a black banner in his possession at the facility, which the FBI believed to be an ISIS flag, Battaglia said.
ISIS commonly uses a distinctive dark flag with white lettering.
Kramer returned to the FBI’s radar shortly after his release. A tipster close to Kramer told the FBI in March that he ordered “mysterious” packages he hid from his parents and that he was “talking to his friends from before,” according to the complaint.
Battaglia said a recent search of Kramer’s laptop revealed propaganda from ISIS and Hamas, two prominent terror organizations that aspire to kill Westerners in the name of Islam.
Investigators believe Kramer suggested the idea of a school shooting in a Reddit post, the complaint says.
One of Kramer’s posts on Telegram “depicted multiple individuals in dark tactical-style clothing obtaining weapons and grenades with the overlaid text which stated, ‘Me And My Friends Getting Ready For School,’” according to the complaint.
The complaint says the FBI also tracked Kramer’s suspicious purchases since his release from juvenile jail, including a 5-inch knife and pepper spray ordered from Amazon.
Kramer also allegedly had an online alias, “Hamza Al Rashid,” where he brainstormed “methods of violence against the Kuffar, as well as tools that can be useful to remain anonymous,” according to the complaint. Kuffar is a reference to non-Muslims.
A shared document Kramer administered discussed how “fire is an extremely useful tool to cause irreplaceable damage to the kuffars homes and land, and cost millions, if not billions of dollars, in damage if used correctly,” the complaint says.
“While fire leads to less deaths, it causes much more chaos/displacement,” Kramer said in the alleged document, according to the complaint.
Kramer also allegedly suggested that “good areas to target” are places like “nightclubs, theaters, concerts, and apartment buildings/hotels and schools with low security.”
“Not only does the fire carry risk of death, in events of mass confusion, people will normally stampede each other trying to escape, leading to more possible deaths,” the document allegedly continued.
Kramer’s alleged planning document highlighted poisonings, large trucks and firearms as “methods to increase your jihad’s destruction.” Battaglia said he promoted “distracting emergency services” as a strategy for carrying out an attack.
“I might be able to carry out an operation soon against the kuffar, please pray for my success brothers,” Kramer allegedly wrote to the online community on May 26.
