Community reacts to arrest of Valencia man accused of plotting terrorist attack
After a Valencia man was accused of buying weapons and ammunition to be used in a terrorist attack in support of ISIS over the weekend, Butler County community members on Wednesday had questions about his plan and how to stop similar crimes.
Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, was arrested Saturday outside a Cranberry Township motel where the FBI had tracked him. He was found with three 30-round rifle magazines, 130 rounds of 5.56-caliber ammunition, a semiautomatic rifle, two loaded magazines, a rifle pod and scope. Police additionally found 30 knives and an undated note in his room at his home.
He was charged with receipt of a firearm with intent to commit a federal crime of terrorism. The criminal complaint did not reveal Kramer’s intended target or time frame for the attack.
“(The FBI) are saying they foiled a plot but then saying no specific target. A plot has a target and we all want to know,” Brad Johnson, a member of the Neighbors of Cranberry Facebook group, said.
Multiple community members had questions about the person the FBI says Kramer had received a firearm from in a Walmart parking lot in Richland Township, Allegheny County.
Kramer visited the Walmart the day of his arrest, according to the criminal complaint. Security footage reviewed by the FBI showed Kramer securing a long black bag that could be used to carry a rifle. The individual who met with Kramer and gave him the rifle was not identified. The security footage the FBI reviewed of the interaction was “grainy,” according to the criminal complaint.
“I’m very curious who he bought the guns from — the criminal complaint is vague,” Justin Good, another member of Neighbors of Cranberry, said.
Others pointed to Kramer’s previous criminal history detailed in the complaint and asked how long he’d been planning the attack. He was charged as a juvenile in April 2023 for his role in a plot “to commit a mass casualty incident,” according to the complaint and remanded to an adolescent treatment center in Oil City. He was released in December 2024.
Dan Trombola, a new college student who recently moved back to Cranberry Township, said he did not expect something like this to happen in suburbia.
“It just goes to show you that anything can happen anywhere,” Maggie Schott, a Jackson Township resident, said. “It makes you stay a little bit more vigilant regarding your children’s and your family’s safety, both physically and online.”
Schott said hearing about the arrest put her on the edge. She said not living in a big city can create a false sense of security.
Cranberry Township Police Chief Kenneth Ruckel echoed comments from federal officials at a news conference on the arrest saying community members act as central partners in identifying potential threats and preventing crimes by reporting suspicious activity to police.
“People need to follow their instincts,” Ruckel said. “If something doesn’t seem right, it may not be right.”
“This is a great example of how much work is being done that is not ‘visible’ to citizens all the time,” Lisa McGinty, one of several community members who commended police on Kramer’s arrest, said.
