A California man who carried out a string of arson attacks in the Bay Area has been sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison, with a judge labeling him a “domestic terrorist” whose actions were designed to intimidate governments and sow fear.

Casey Robert Goonan, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, admitted to firebombing a University of California Police Department vehicle with Molotov cocktails and attempting to torch the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland. He also set fires across the UC Berkeley campus in June 2024, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White imposed a 235-month prison term, plus 15 years of supervised release, and ordered more than $94,000 in restitution.

Federal prosecutors said Goonan was inspired by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel and sought to rally others to attack Bay Area campuses “in support of Palestine.” In his plea, Goonan admitted that his actions were intended to “influence and affect the conduct of governments by intimidation and coercion” and to retaliate against the United States and California.

Authorities said Goonan tried to break into the Oakland federal building on June 11, 2024, with Molotov cocktails, but was thwarted by security. He fled the scene after lighting the explosives in a planter outside. His earlier attack on a UC police vehicle destroyed the car after he ignited fuel tanks with homemade firebombs.

Prosecutors stressed that Goonan’s actions went beyond vandalism and amounted to domestic terrorism. “These crimes were deliberate attempts to terrorize communities and undermine government institutions,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Goonan has been in custody since June 2024, when he was first arrested on state charges.

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