Man who identifies as 'they' indicted on federal charges for igniting explosives underneath a marked UC Berkeley police car

OAKLAND, CA - Federal authorities confirmed through a press release that a grand jury has indicted a 34-year-old man for firebombing a University of California at Berkeley police vehicle. 

According to the San Francisco Examiner, the suspect, identified as Casey Robert Goonan, allegedly carried six Molotov cocktails in a reusable shopping bag to the campus on June 1, 2024. He has been accused of kicking that bag underneath the fuel tank of a marked UC Berkeley patrol car and igniting the explosives. The explosion caused significant damage to the vehicle's rear seats, fuel port, and trunk, rendering it a total loss.

Rapid response from UC police officers prevented the vehicle from exploding. Goonan has been charged with one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property belonging to an institution receiving federal financial assistance by means of fire or explosive; one count of maliciously damaging or destroying property used in or affecting interstate commerce by means of fire or an explosive; and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm. 

If convicted, Goonan faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of maliciously damaging or destroying property by means of fire or an explosive and up to 10 years for possession of an unregistered firearm. Sentencing would be determined by the court following consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and federal statutes.

Goonan was arraigned and pleaded not guilty before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu. He remains in federal custody pending trial with a scheduled court date of September 17, 2024. He will go before Senior United States District Judge Jeffrey S. White in Oakland.

According to Mercury News, Goonan earned a PhD in African American studies in 2022 from Northwestern University. He was arrested on June 17th in connection with four arson attacks on UC Berkeley campus within that month, including the vehicle firebombing. His attorney, Jeff Wozniak said that Goonan, who uses "they" pronouns, intends to fight the charges. 

In an interview with KQED, Wozniak said that the case had been politicized due to the defendant's involvement in anti-war protests. He said via email, "There's a long history of prosecutors trying to take people's political beliefs and their music and their art and things that they have said out of context to try to make them guilty by association. Dr. Goonan's political beliefs in a free Palestine and against the ongoing genocide in Gaza are well established, but those beliefs do not make Dr. Goonan guilty of these allegations."

After an investigation led by state arson investigators along with federal agents and university police, Goonan initially faced state charges in Alameda County before federal prosecutors took over the case. According to a statement from an FBI agent included in the criminal complaint, after the police vehicle was torched, Goonan returned to document the aftermath, blogging photos under a headline proclaiming "Student Intifada."

Wozniak also called the inclusion of an unregistered firearm charge "a strange charging decision," noting that it was likely related to the alleged use of an explosive device and that "there's not gun or what we would typically think of as a firearm involved in these allegations."