A man was arrested Monday in connection with the firebombing of a UC Berkeley Police Department vehicle and three other arson attacks at the height of pro-Palestinian protests on the Berkeley campus, authorities announced.
Casey Robert Goonan, 34, was booked into the Alameda County Jail on suspicion of arson and possession and use of destructive devices, according to a news release from Cal Fire. He is being held on $1 million bail.
The alleged incidents occurred in June. Cal Fire did not include further details, including whether anyone was injured in the attacks. The incidents were investigated by the Cal Fire State Fire Marshal's Office of the Fire and Bomb Unit, the UC Berkeley Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI.
University officials confirmed that no one was injured and that no damage was done to campus buildings due to the fires.
Jeff Wozniak, Goonan's attorney, said the Alameda County district attorney's office has not filed charges and called the arrest “a political investigation.”
Wozniak said multiple law enforcement agencies raided Goonan's parents' Pleasant Hill home Monday morning.
“It is an investigation focused on Mr. Goonan's political beliefs in a free Palestine and against the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Wozniak said in a statement. “The search warrant specifically sought 'documents related to the Israel-Palestine conflict,' illustrating that this is an investigation to blame Mr. Goonan for his opposition to genocide and his demand for a free Palestine.”
Pro-Palestinian supporters who had been protesting on the Berkeley campus claimed responsibility for the firebombing and arson attacks. In a post last week on Indybay.org, a group called Student Intifada wrote: “UCLA students were attacked last night, so we retaliated with a firebomb on the UCB campus.”
“I'm not sure what building it was. “I honestly don’t care,” the post said. “Every building on the UC Berkeley campus deserves to be burned following the UC system's treatment of student protesters.”
Another Sunday post on Indybay.org under the title “Marilyn's Daughters” claimed responsibility for the “retaliatory arson attack on the Kkkalifornia University construction site in Berkeley.”
The pro-Palestinian group said they carried out an “experimental burning of dry grass hills inside the campus,” set fire to a building on the campus perimeter and set fire to building materials at a construction site.
According to media reports, a small fire broke out at the Dwinelle Annex construction site on Sunday afternoon. Another fire was also reported outside Koshland Hall last week.
A social media account called Escalate Network also posted on X in support of Goonan:
“In the coming days, information about fundraising and other next steps will emerge from movement advocacy groups in California. We should all elevate them and share them with our bases. We will defend those who fight! “Free Palestine.”
Wozniak also represents Goonan in another case, in which he faces a charge of felony vandalism. Goonan is accused of breaking a Hilton hotel sign during a protest in San Francisco outside the US International Women's Declaration conference in September 2023.
Wozniak confirmed that Goonan was protesting “an anti-trans rally at the Hilton.”
