California man sentenced in arson and firebombing plots inspired by Hamas

A man who admitted setting multiple fires in Northern California, saying he was inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said Tuesday that Casey Robert Goonan, 35, of Oakland and Pleasant Hill 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.

Prosecutors said that in June 2024, Goonan placed a bag with six Molotov cocktails under the fuel tank of a University of California Police Department patrol car near the Berkeley campus, setting the vehicle on fire.

Ten days later, he attempted to firebomb the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland by throwing rocks at the windows in an effort to break them before lighting Molotov cocktails. Protective services officers intervened, and Goonan fled, igniting the devices in a planter outside the building.

Goonan also set other fires on the UC Berkeley campus on June 1, June 13, and June 16, 2024. He admitted that his actions were inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and that he called on others to target Bay Area college campuses in support of Palestine.

At sentencing, Judge White referred to Goonan as a “domestic terrorist” and found that his crimes were intended to promote terrorism.

In addition to nearly 20 years in prison, Goonan was ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release, pay $94,267 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment. He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2024.