A month after a man was arrested outside of a Cranberry Township motel for planning an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack, some of the county’s Jewish and Muslim community leaders shared their perspective on the incident.

While residents throughout Butler County had expressed concern following the September incident in otherwise laid-back suburbia, there was an extra layer of concern for religious communities.

Jonathan Kramer, of Valencia, was arrested last month after police said the FBI followed his online trail to apprehend him. Kramer had active social media accounts through which he is accused of engaging with ISIS propaganda.

He was charged with acquisition of a firearm and ammunition with an intent to commit terrorism on behalf of ISIS. He entered a not guilty plea in federal court on Tuesday.

According to authorities, Kramer had intended to target non-Muslims. The criminal complaint leading up to the arrest indicates synagogues were one of his potential targets.

Shawn Brokos, security director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said her immediate reaction when the news of the arrest broke was relief. But she said she continues to be worried about an uptick in radicalization through the internet.

“I can tell you, one, as a parent, and two, as a retired FBI agent, these things do exist and it is so important that our parents or guardians are really monitoring what their children are doing online,” Brokos said.

“We are seeing a young adult population — particularly young males in that age range — who have become radicalized online,” she added. “We see this more than the public probably realizes and it's very concerning.”

A big part of Brokos’s job as security director is outreach, which involves messaging community members to check in with them. Brokos added she has observed a “crisis fatigue” in the Jewish community in response to threats.

“If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” she said.

Many faith-based partners have reached out expressing similar concern and offering support, she added.

Saad Mahmood, director of the Muslim Association of Greater Pittsburgh (MAP), was also reassured by the arrest. Mahmood said he asked around about whether Kramer had ever interacted with members of MAP or had any connections to the community.

“Nobody could recall ever interacting with or speaking with him, so it’s unclear to me how much he really understood about the religion,” said Mahmood. “Something like this is antithetical to Islamic teachings and is against the values that we hold, including the sanctity of life.”

As a small community, Mahmood said just about everyone knows everybody. In addition to building connections within the group, MAP has also hosted interfaith events to open doors to non-members.

Brokos and Mahmood expressed gratitude to community members who flagged Kramer to the authorities and to law enforcement officers who worked to bring him in.

“They were relentless in their investigation and tracking and we know that their watchful eye and relentless investigation kept our community safe,” said Brokos.

Looking at general trends, recruitment into terror groups or extreme ideologies is often driven by the feeling from the recruit that they are a victim with a grievance, said David Champion, a criminology professor at Slippery Rock University.

“It’s not necessary that the person really is a victim or has a legitimate grievance,” said Champion. “It’s the perception of victimhood, or grievance, that someone might be harboring.”

Social isolation and alienation are recurring factors in these types of cases, Champion said. He noted he was commenting on broader research rather than Kramer’s case specifically.

Kramer was described by his former roommate as someone who usually kept to himself and did not participate in group activities during his time at Pathways Adolescent Center, according to previous Butler Eagle reporting.

Mahmood noted that despite Kramer’s alleged Islamic inspiration, he was reportedly not connected to the Muslim community. He said he has wondered if things would have gone differently had Kramer formed a connection with the community.

“We all know that there are extremists of every faith and unfortunately, sometimes, when people are searching for something, they can look for the extreme,” Mahmood said.

Radicalization can take place when the person believes a story of achieving a higher identity by becoming involved and fighting a perceived injustice, said Champion. Young adults in particular have been targeted, he added.

“There seems to be something about that age range, because that is when people are trying to establish identities, that might make them particularly vulnerable,” Champion said.

Terror-based ideology can also lead individuals to overcome their natural inhibitions against inflicting harm on others, Champion said, by creating a sense of supremacy. Those ideas can include religion, race and nationalism.

Champion said he is unsure if an individual’s location is a factor. However, he said the internet has reduced the impact of where an individual lives.

“We are bombarded so much with media and social media no matter where we are,” he noted.

Champion said an online presence provides radical groups with a platform to spread their message and it amplifies that message, which creates a narrative that someone vulnerable can internalize.

“It’s not necessarily a ‘blame the internet’ thing,” he clarified.

While internet activity is not directly at fault — “there is something else going on in their life” — it facilitates a narrative, Champion said. Groups of a variety of ideologies have used this tactic, from neo-Nazism to radical Islamism, he added.

To counter harm from online threats, the Jewish Federation, in partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, organized a training event called “Learning How to Keep Our Kids Safe Online.” Events on Oct. 8 and Thursday featured presentations from security experts about the dangers that exist online for children.

Following his not guilty plea, Kramer’s case will now tentatively proceed to trial.