Casey Robert Goonan, 35, of Oakland and Pleasant Hill, California, was sentenced on Sept. 23 in the Northern District of California to 19 years in federal prison for committing a series of arsons and firebombings at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Oakland federal building in June 2024.
In January 2025, Goonan pleaded guilty to one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive.
“This domestic terrorist could have taken untold lives had his violent attacks been more successful, and using the evils of Hamas as motivation speaks to his depravity,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “He will have many long years in prison to think about his crimes, and the Department of Justice will continue prosecuting political violence across America.”
Court documents say that in the early morning hours of June 1, 2024, Goonan placed a bag containing six explosive devices commonly known as “Molotov cocktails” underneath the fuel tank of a marked University of California Police Department patrol car parked near the UC Berkeley campus. Goonan lit the bag on fire and fled, causing the patrol car to catch on fire.
A video capturing the events on the morning of June 1, 2024, can be viewed here.
“Targeting law enforcement and government facilities is unacceptable and all of the FBI’s investigative resources will be used to bring to justice all who engage in such violent actions,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The FBI is committed to aggressively investigating every instance of such targeting and to working with the Justice Department to make sure these criminals pay the price of their despicable actions.”
Goonan also attempted to firebomb the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on June 11, 2024. Goonan arrived at the federal building carrying a bag containing three Molotov cocktails, but was interrupted by security before doing much damage. Upon fleeing from the officers, Goonan placed the Molotov cocktails in a planter on the side of building and lit them on fire.
“The defendant’s actions — firebombing a police vehicle, targeting a federal building, and calling on others to join his campaign of destruction — reflect a disturbing trend in the United States. Not long ago, we shared the view that our fellow citizens were entitled to hold and voice opinions, including those we found objectionable. Now, our country stands at the edge of a dangerous precipice as a growing segment of our society appears to reject these traditions, believing that violence is a legitimate means of protest,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “This sentence is a sharp rebuke of that disastrous view. Now, more than ever, we must unite in condemning political violence in all its forms.”
In addition to these two attacks, Goonan set other fires on the UC Berkeley campus on June 1, June 13, and June 16, 2024.
Goonan acknowledged that these attacks were inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and that he called on others to attack property on Bay Area college campuses in support of Palestine.
Goonan admitted that his conduct was designed to influence and affect the conduct of governments by intimidation and coercion and to retaliate against the governments of the United States and the State of California for their conduct.
“Freedom of expression and peaceful protest are deeply enshrined values in America. We are all free to think what we want and express those views peacefully, but the use of violence to achieve political aims — or to silence those with whom you may disagree — has no place in our community and our country,” said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California. “Anyone who crosses the line between peaceful protest and violence will be met with the full force of the law.”
At sentencing, the court referred to Goonan as a “domestic terrorist” and found that he had committed a felony offense that involved or was intended to promote a federal crime of terrorism.
In addition to the prison term, Judge White also ordered the defendant serve 15 years of supervised release after he is released from custody and ordered restitution in the amount of $94,267.51 and a $100 special assessment. The defendant has been in custody since his initial arrest on state charges on June 17, 2024.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the California Office of the State Fire Marshal, and University of California Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikhil Bhagat for the Northern District of California is prosecuting the case.
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