Bay Area man gets nearly 20 years for firebombing UC Berkeley patrol car

By Jose Fabian

The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday said an Oakland man will serve nearly 20 years for a firebombing in Berkeley and an attempted firebombing at an Oakland federal building.

Casey Robert Goonan, 35, was convicted in January 2025 after pleading guilty to one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive.

The plea agreement stated that Goonan admitted to placing six “molotovs” under a UC Berkeley Police patrol car and setting it on fire on June 1, 2024. He also admitted to trying to firebomb the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on June 11 and to setting several fires on UC Berkeley’s campus.

The fires were set on June 1, 13, and 16 of the same year.

In addition to the 235 months in federal prison, he was ordered to 15 years of supervised release and to pay restitution totaling $96,267.51, plus a $100 special assessment.

During his sentencing, the court called Goonan a “domestic terrorist.”

According to the DOJ, Goonan stated that he “called on others to attack property on Bay Area college campuses in support of Palestine,” and that he admitted to wanting to “influence and affect the conduct of governments by intimidation and coercion and to retaliate against the government of the United States and the State of California for their conduct.”