A serial arsonist with antifa ties was sentenced Tuesday to nearly two decades in federal prison for firebombing a California police patrol car and attempting to torch a federal courthouse.
The 19-year prison sentence marks the longest one to date for an antifa-associated federal defendant. This comes as the Trump administration continues to crack down on criminal antifa activity, now deemed domestic terrorism amid mounting political violence concerns.
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Casey Robert Goonan, the “nonbinary” co-founder of True Leap Press, a radical-left publishing collective pushing anarcho-communist propaganda, pled guilty in January to malicious property destruction by means of fire or an explosive. Goonan, who said he was inspired by the Hamas terrorists attacking Israel, confessed to carrying out a string of arson attacks last summer in support of Palestine.
According to investigators in the FBI’s domestic terrorism unit, he had posted pictures of his pro-Palestine handiwork on an anarchist blog, urging others to join the “student intifada” and commit similar acts “for Palestine” on Bay Area college campuses. Antifa militants often pseudonymously post on such websites to claim responsibility for terrorist attacks targeting law enforcement and government property.
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As part of a plea deal, Goonan agreed to the court applying the terrorism enhancement at sentencing.
This week, Judge Jeffrey S. White gave Goonan a harsher sentence than prosecutors sought, three more years tacked on, as opposed to what was originally requested, and a few months short of the maximum allowed.
White, a Bush appointee, said Goonan’s punishment serves as a deterrent warning that “acts of terrorism cannot be tolerated in this or any court.”
During oral arguments, prosecutors reportedly asked the court to consider the rise of “endemic political violence” in America and cited the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Prosecutors initially only wanted a 16-year prison term, raising concerns with Goonan, whom they characterized as a “narcissistic violent ideologue,” inciting further political violence.
“Individuals who Goonan seeks to inspire by his actions — those who he seeks to have consider him a political prisoner and a ‘martyr’ — must know that following in his footsteps will lead to a lengthy term of imprisonment,” read the government’s sentencing request.
White granted the prosecution’s petition to place Goonan within a communications management unit, which allows prison personnel to closely monitor contact between inmates and those on the outside.
Prosecutors pointed to “voluminous correspondence” Goonan sent and received while in pretrial custody. According to the sentencing memorandum, much of that correspondence concerned “his use of violence to achieve political ends.” Officials said Goonan’s communications with “like-minded individuals” demonstrate that he “shows no remorse for his actions, seeks to aggrandize himself, and seeks the assistance of others in spreading his message of political violence.”
White also ordered Goonan to serve 15 years of supervised release, with special conditions limiting his Internet use and banning anonymous online services.
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Following sentencing, antifa allies are issuing calls to “Free Casey” from federal incarceration, claiming that he is being “held captive by the prison-industrial complex.”
Supporters set up a legal defense fund on Chuffed.org, a fundraising platform primarily financing social justice causes. The effort raised over $54,000 for Goonan, who must pay more than $94,000 in restitution. A post-conviction update on the campaign says the remaining money will go toward assisting Goonan with “a broader set of financial burdens beyond legal expenses,” such as commissary, communication costs, and “other needs.”
The Transgender Law Center, which has been corresponding with Goonan, entered the case as an interested third-party on his behalf.
“The bottom line of this case is that it’s property destruction, and nobody was harmed,” one of Goonan’s defense attorneys, Jeff Wozniak, told San Francisco-based PBS affiliate KQED.
According to charging documents, in the early hours of June 1, 2024, Goonan placed a bag containing six explosive devices, commonly known as “Molotov cocktails,” underneath the fuel tank of a marked University of California Police Department patrol car parked near the Berkeley campus. Goonan then lit the bag, causing the patrol car to catch on fire.
Goonan also attempted to firebomb the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Oakland on June 11, 2024. He hurled rocks at the building, hoping to break a window in order to throw lighted Molotov cocktails inside. However, protective services officers disrupted his plan. As he fled from the scene, Goonan placed the Molotov cocktails in a planter on the side of the office building and ignited them.
In addition to these two attacks, Goonan set other fires that month on the UC Berkeley campus, including on June 1, June 13, and June 16.
Wozniak argued that Goonan, a self-described “scholar activist,” was involved with community organizing and simply “went too far.”
“Casey’s desire to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide and the U.S. support of that genocide in Gaza remains steadfast,” Wozniak added. “Their focus on Palestinian liberation remains, and they will continue to raise awareness from the inside about these pressing issues and, of course, the issues facing political prisoners all across this country.”
Goonan, who has a PhD in African American studies from Northwestern University, wrote his doctoral dissertation on the movement to abolish all prisons.