“Today’s sentencing makes clear that the FBI and our partners will not tolerate violence, and we will hold accountable anyone who seeks to harm our communities,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo.
Last week, a federal judge sentenced Casey Robert Goonan to 235 months—nearly 20 years—in prison for a series of politically motivated firebombings at UC Berkeley and the Ronald V. Dellums U.S. Courthouse in Oakland. The self-described “activist” justified the attacks by telling the court he had been “consumed by despair over Gaza.”
The court branded Goonan a “domestic terrorist” and, at the prosecutors’ requests, applied a terrorism enhancement.
Indeed, this was no mere vandalism. The attacks were “inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel” and done to encourage others “to attack property on Bay Area college campuses in support of Palestine,” according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California.
“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,” the press release states.
The pro-Hamas terrorist—who is biologically male—identifies as non-binary and prefers the use of they/them pronouns. Goonan’s attorney, Jeff Wozniak, argued that the sentencing “completely disregarded Casey’s well established struggles with mental health.”
Was Goonan supposed to be let off with a lighter punishment because of his alleged struggles with gender? It would not be the first time attorneys have played this card in hopes of reducing their client’s sentence. Currently, the attorney representing Nicholas John Roske—who identifies as Sophie Roske and who admitted to trying to kill conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh—is hoping to have a 30 year sentenced lowered to eight years because their client suffers with mental health issues and takes medication for it.
Goonan pleaded guilty to one count of maliciously damaging property by fire or explosives in interstate commerce and admitted to multiple arsons in June 2024, including planting Molotov cocktails under a UC Berkeley police vehicle and trying to attack the federal courthouse.
According to the plea agreement, Goonan first planted six Molotov cocktails under the fuel tank of a UC police car, then set it ablaze. He then fled. Later, he went to the Oakland federal building, threw rocks at windows aiming to break them, and when thwarted, ignited the explosives in a planter outside. He also admitted to lighting other fires across Berkeley on June 1, 13, and 16, targeting library areas, construction zones, and campus grounds, as part of a broader pattern during that month.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Goonan to pay over $94,000 in restitution. Upon release—in about two decades—he will also be subject to 15 years of supervised release following incarceration. Typically this involves complying with specific mandatory and special conditions set by the court and regular check-ins with a probation officer. Failure to comply could result in Goonan being returned to custody.
Goonan’s acts were committed right at the height of a recent surge in hate crimes towards Jewish Americans. Following Hamas’ attack on Israel—wherein over 1,100 were killed and untold dozens were tortured and raped—antisemitic incidents in the U.S. skyrocketed by 361%, according to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League.
“Today’s sentencing makes clear that the FBI and our partners will not tolerate violence, and we will hold accountable anyone who seeks to harm our communities,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo.
