Federal authorities charged Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, of Valencia, Pennsylvania, with receiving a firearm and ammunition while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe they would be used to commit a felony or federal crime of terrorism. Kramer made his initial court appearance on Sept. 14, and prosecutors have requested that he be detained without bond pending trial as a danger to the community.
FBI agents approached Kramer during the weekend after he returned to a hotel in Cranberry Township carrying bags that contained three 30-round-capacity rifle magazines and five boxes of rifle ammunition, according to the Justice Department. Federal search warrants executed on Kramer, his hotel room and his residence led agents to seize a semiautomatic rifle, five rifle magazines—two of them loaded—a bipod, a scope and 190 rounds of rifle ammunition. Agents also seized an entrenchment tool, a prayer rug, pepper spray, approximately 30 knives and a handwritten note.
The criminal complaint alleges that the suspected terrorism offenses included providing, attempting to provide and conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. According to the affidavit supporting the complaint, Kramer used the online persona “Hamza Al Rashid,” claimed affiliation with ISIS, offered to share explosive manuals and said he intended to prepare for his “mission” but was missing a “weapon.” Justice Department officials characterized the arrest as the disruption of an alleged attack, but the complaint does not establish guilt.
The affidavit states that the FBI had known of Kramer since a 2023 investigation. Kramer, then a minor, was charged and adjudicated delinquent by Pennsylvania authorities for his role in a plot to commit a mass-casualty incident and for possessing child sexual abuse material. After his release from a Pennsylvania juvenile detention facility, an anonymous person submitted an online tip to the FBI on March 19, 2026, reporting that Kramer had resumed troubling behavior, including ordering “mysterious” packages and communicating with people from before his juvenile adjudication.
On Sept. 12, agents observed Kramer leave his residence with a bag, travel by rideshare to a retail store and buy a disposable phone, the affidavit alleges. He then met another person in the parking lot, obtained a long black bag from a vehicle and traveled to the Cranberry Township hotel, where he paid cash for a room. After checking in, Kramer went to a sporting goods store and was observed at the gun counter before agents approached him upon his return to the hotel.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan J. McKenna of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorneys Andrew Briggs and Matthew Hracho of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case. The FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from state and local agencies. A criminal complaint is an accusation, and Kramer is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.