Oakland man arrested after arson attacks at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Casey Goonan is charged with several serious crimes, including “possession and use of explosive devices and several counts of arson.”

Authorities have announced the arrest of an Oakland man in connection with four “arson attacks” at UC Berkeley this month.

On Monday evening, Cal Fire announced the arrest of 34-year-old Casey Robert Goonan “in connection with the firebombing of a UC Berkeley police vehicle and three other arson attacks on the UC Berkeley campus in June.”

Goonan was arrested Monday “following a comprehensive investigation” by the State Fire Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Arson and Bomb Unit, UC Berkeley police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The Scanner was the first to report the arrest.

Goonan is now charged with several serious crimes, authorities said, including “possession and use of explosive devices and several counts of arson.”

He is being held in the Santa Rita Jail on $1 million bail, Monday’s statement said. Booking records show he was arrested shortly after 9 a.m.

The Scanner has been calling on the authorities for weeks to provide updated information on the investigation into the arson attacks, which are linked to pro-Palestinian activities.

In early June, an anonymous author claimed in an online post to have set fire to a UCPD police vehicle “in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters who were attacked by the Zionist state in Rafah.”

In a similarly worded statement last week, an anonymous writer on the activist website Indybay claimed that they set fire to UC Berkeley’s Koshland Hall.

“EVERY SINGLE BUILDING ON THE UC BERKELEY CAMPUS DESERVES TO BE BURNED DOWN AFTER THE UC SYSTEM’S TREATMENT OF THE PROTESTING STUDENTS,” they wrote.

Over the weekend, another anonymous comment on Indybay said there had been other incidents, including the “successful looting of a UBC utility building worth thousands of dollars,” the “experimental burning of dry grass mounds inside campus,” and an arson at a construction site “that primarily involved building materials, wooden pallets, and huge areas of dry bush.”

On Monday afternoon, The Scanner asked the UCPD if they had linked a suspect to these incidents, but had not received a response by press time.

But Casey Goonan has been linked to other protest activities online and has resulted in at least one arrest in recent years.

The Scanner has asked authorities for a booking photo of Goonan and will update this story if it is provided.

According to online booking records, his arraignment is scheduled for Thursday morning.

If this happens as planned, the court records are likely to reveal further details of the allegations against him.

Cal Fire asks anyone wishing to report arson to email the Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Fire and Bomb Unit at [email protected] or call Cal Fire’s Arson Hotline at 800-468-4408.

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UC Berkeley police car burned, possibly in support of Palestine

UC Berkeley officials declined to comment on the matter and referred all inquiries to the State Fire Marshal’s office.