Pro-Palestinian activist sentenced to 19 years for UC Berkeley firebombings

Casey Robert Goonan, a 35-year-old nonbinary activist, was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in federal prison after pleading guilty to firebombing a University of California Police Department patrol car on the UC Berkeley campus during a June 2024 pro-Palestinian demonstration. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White handed down the sentence in San Francisco, saying the conduct crossed from protest into violent crime.

Goonan pleaded guilty in January to one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive, according to a Department of Justice press release. The court described the defendant as a domestic terrorist, noting that the acts were intended to promote a federal crime of terrorism. The case documents say a bag containing six incendiary devices was lit under the patrol car, causing it to ignite and burn.

The attack on the UC Berkeley car was part of a broader sequence of arson attempts and fires tied to the campus protest. Federal prosecutors say Goonan also attempted to firebomb a federal building and the U.S. Courthouse in Oakland in the days following the Berkeley incident, and set other fires on June 1, June 13 and June 16, 2024. Goonan has been in custody since June 17, 2024, after their initial arrest on the same day.

The defendant said the attacks were inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and urged fellow students to destroy campus property in support of Palestine, according to the Department of Justice.

"Freedom of expression and peaceful protest are deeply enshrined values in America," U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said. "Anyone who crosses the line between peaceful protest and violence will be met with the full force of the law."

The sentencing includes 15 years of supervised release after the prison term, and Goonan was ordered to pay $94,267 in damages. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement saying the violence could have claimed lives and that the Department of Justice will continue prosecuting political violence across the country.

This case underscores the ongoing tension between campus activism and criminal violence, and it highlights the federal government's commitment to prosecuting domestic terrorism when property damage and threats turn violent.