Former roommate: Valencia man accused of plotting terrorist attack was ‘obsessed’ with previous shootings
The Butler County man charged with gathering supplies to commit a terrorist act for ISIS was “obsessed” with previous mass-casualty shootings and devoted to religion, according to his roommate at Pathways Adolescent Center.
Jonathan Hunter Kramer, 21, was federally charged Sept. 12 with receiving firearms and ammunition that authorities believe would have been used to commit a terrorist attack. He’d stayed at Pathways Adolescent Center in Oil City from April 2023 until his release in March this year, according to charging documents.
Braden Lutman, now 19, of Indiana County, stayed in the same facility from April 2023 to May 2024 on a referral from Children and Youth Services. He said he believed he was Kramer’s first roommate at the facility.
The arrangement lasted about a month and a half to two months when Kramer was about 17 years old, Lutman estimated.
“Yes, he seemed off,” Lutman said. “I don’t like to stereotype anybody, but he definitely had that look to him.”
Kramer had been on the FBI’s radar since March 11, 2023, when he was charged with having a role in a plot to commit a mass-casualty incident and possessing child sexual abuse material, which is why he was sent to Pathways Adolescent Center, according to charging documents.
Lutman described Kramer as being 5-foot-7-inches, weighing 160 pounds “soaking wet.” He usually kept to himself and didn’t participate in group activities, such as team sports with the other boys.
Kramer instead spent most of his time in his room, Lutman said.
According to Lutman, it took Kramer about a month for him to begin opening up to the other boys.
He explained the boys aren’t supposed to discuss the reasons they’re sent to Pathways. However, Kramer was more open to discussing why he was there than Lutman expected.
“It’s sad how you see an individual who went into placement for heinous and disgusting crimes go right back for the same thing,” Lutman said after hearing of the new charges.
Lutman said Kramer would “brag” about the types of pages and community forums he was involved in on the internet.
According to charging documents, Kramer used the alias “Nikolas Cruz” to post threatening statements and instructions to make explosives online before his arrest in 2023. Nikolas Cruz was the name of the shooter who killed 17 people at a high school in 2018 in Parkland, Fla.
Kramer also alluded at the time to an unidentified act that would occur three months from then, police said.
Lutman said Kramer was “obsessed” with the Parkland and Columbine, Colo., shootings and the logistics of the incidents. He said Kramer would explain, “this is why Nikolas Cruz did this,” and he would discuss how to make bombs and chemical weapons.
“You have to be a pretty sick and demented individual to want to look at those things and memorize those things,” Lutman said.
Lutman said he and the other boys usually didn’t believe Kramer when he said he knew how to make these things — until Kramer explained the process in detail.
Despite being open about these interests, Lutman said Kramer never discussed his charge of possessing child sexual abuse material. However, he was open about supporting ISIS, according to Lutman.
While in his room during the day, Kramer would participate in daily prayer and would read the Quran.
Lutman said he couldn’t tell if Kramer had many additional hobbies.
“(He) was very true to that religion,” Lutman said.
At the time, Pathways Adolescent Center accepted boys and girls ages 11-20, according to a standardized program evaluation protocol in 2023. The boys and girls facilities each held 28 beds. There was a separate “step down” program for boys ages 13-15 who did well in the general residential program.
The program allowed students to attend public or private school, career and technical education, take college courses on site and work toward a general education degree.
However, Lutman said Kramer would usually sit in his room most of the day. He did not recall seeing Kramer do any school work.
Kramer lived in and graduated from the Mars Area School District in 2023.
“As a resident of our district, (Kramer) received a Mars Area High School diploma upon meeting all requirements for graduation,” said superintendent Mark Gross. “However, he did not physically attend any Mars Area Schools.”
Director of safety and security Jeff James said the district was in communication and working with law enforcement “since the beginning.”
The FBI, according to the criminal complaint, had communicated with Butler County Juvenile Court Services about Kramer in December 2024. Their communication revealed Kramer’s family was “not involved” in his treatment program to the extent the juvenile court services “traditionally prefers to see” and did not follow through on recommendations for his treatment, the criminal complaint said.
Juvenile court services also noted a “black banner” that Kramer had at Pathways Adolescent Center.
Lutman didn’t specifically recall the banner. Lutman also did not keep in touch with him after being released in May 2024.
Kramer was released from the center in March 2026. It took about a week for the FBI to get a tip about his behavior that led to the recent charges.
