Hamas-supporting domestic terrorist Casey Goonan sentenced to more than 19 years for UC Berkeley and Oakland courthouse attacks

A Hamas-supporting domestic terrorist has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for firebombing a University of California campus and hurling lit Molotov cocktails at a federal courthouse. Casey Goonan, 35, was sentenced earlier this week on a single count of maliciously damaging or destroying property, with prosecutors saying he carried out the attacks to back Palestine and inspired by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks.

Authorities described a chilling sequence in which Goonan was caught on surveillance cameras stashing a bag filled with six explosives under a marked University of California Police Department patrol car near the UC Berkeley campus, then lighting the bag on fire and fleeing as the car erupted. Days later, he attempted to firebomb the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and Courthouse in Oakland. He initially tried to break the building’s windows with rocks to toss Molotov cocktails but security thwarted him; instead, he lit the explosives in a planter near the building and fled. Prosecutors said Goonan also set a spate of other fires on the Berkeley campus and urged others to carry out similar anti-Israel attacks.

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Goonan pleaded guilty in January to the property-damage charge and, according to court filings, conducted the attacks to further Hamas-inspired aims amid the broader conflict over Israel and Gaza. U.S. Attorneys and investigators described a calculated campaign intended to incite fear and inspire others to commit similar acts of political violence.

The sentencing was announced amid a broader push by federal prosecutors to deter politically motivated violence. In a statement released as part of the case, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the government will continue prosecuting political violence across the United States and emphasized that the defendant will spend many years in prison as a consequence of his actions.

The case was prosecuted in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, with authorities stressing that the charges stem from a targeted series of attacks in and around the UC Berkeley campus and a federal building in Oakland, reflecting a pattern of efforts to attack symbols of education, government, and public safety. The defense argued for a more lenient sentence, highlighting the defendant’s background; however, the court found the offenses serious and dangerous, terminating the case with a lengthy term of imprisonment.

As authorities noted, the incidents took place in June of the prior year, with the Berkeley attack capturing attention on campus safety and violent extremism in the Bay Area. The Dellums Building incident drew federal attention to the security implications of protests and the risks posed by individuals who act in the name of political causes. The Department of Justice said it would continue to monitor and prosecute similar acts, reinforcing the message that such violence has no place in the public sphere.