BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Casey Goonan, a 'scholar-activist', was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for firebombing a UC Berkeley police car and other arson acts, which occurred in June 2024.
- The sentence exceeded the prosecution's request of 15 years, with Goonan also ordered to pay nearly $100,000 in fines for his violent acts, inspired by political motives related to the conflict in Gaza.
- Goonan's defense claimed the charges stemmed from political bias against his activism for Palestinian rights, while the DOJ stated he admitted that his actions aimed to intimidate governments as a response to international events.
A federal judge sentenced a ‘scholar-activist” to almost 20 years in prison and ordered him to pay nearly $100,000 in fines for firebombing a University of California Berkeley police car and committing other acts of arson.
Judge Jeffrey White went further than even requested by the prosecution, who asked for 15 years in prison for Casey Goonan, who committed the crimes in June 2024.
Goonan, as detailed by the Department of Justice, “placed a bag containing six explosive devices commonly known as ‘Molotov cocktails’ underneath the fuel tank of a marked University of California Police Department (UCPD) patrol car parked near the UC Berkeley campus. Goonan lit the bag on fire and fled, causing the patrol car to catch on fire.”
That same month, he reportedly tried to firebomb federal buildings as well.
Last year, Goonan’s attorney Jeff Wozniak said the charges were part of a politicized investigation due to his client’s opposition to Israel. “It is an investigation focused on Mr. Goonan’s political beliefs in a free Palestine and against the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the attorney said last year. “If charges are filed, Mr. Goonan’s legal team will aggressively fight the charges.”
The Department of Justice said Goonan admitted he had political motives for his violence.
“Goonan acknowledged that these attacks were inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and that he called on others to attack property on Bay Area college campuses in support of Palestine,” the DOJ announced yesterday. “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.”
Wozniak was already defending Goonan on other charges that he “wielded a hammer during a protest outside the Women’s Declaration International USA conference in September [2023],” the San Francisco Standard reported. “Court documents say police saw Goonan smash the Hilton Hotel sign on Kearny Street with a hammer before he was pulled from the crowd and arrested.”
Goonan graduated from Northwestern University in 2022 with a doctorate in African-American Studies, as previously reported by The College Fix. He lived at home with his parents in California in their $1.1 million house The San Francisco Standard previously reported. Reporting from The Daily Californian uses “they/them” pronouns, suggesting Goonan identifies as transgender.
Prior to attending Northwestern, Goonan graduated from University of California Riverside. One of his former professors recently praised Goonan, as reported by The Fix.
Professor Dylan Rodriguez said Goonan is a “genius” and one of his “most precious colleagues.” He also appears to have organized a legal defense fund for Goonan.
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