A 34-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with multiple arson incidents and the firebombing of a campus police vehicle at UC Berkeley, and these may have been acts of protest over the university's treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Casey Goonan, a 34-year-old with a doctorate in African American Studies, has been accused of multiple arson attacks on the UC Berkeley campus in the past three weeks. As the Berkeley Scanner reported following an announcement by Cal Fire, Goonan was arrested Monday "in connection with the firebombing attack of a UC Berkeley Police Department vehicle and three other arson attacks on UC Berkeley campus during the month of June."

The campus police vehicle on Barrows Lane was reportedly firebombed on June 1, as KPIX reports, and a male suspect in dark clothing was seen fleeing the scene east on Bancroft Avenue toward Piedmont Avenue. Other arson incidents occurred on June 1, and on June 13 and 16.

On June 13, campus police posted to X about an arson outside Koshland Hall just after noon. The Berkeley Scanner subsequently linked this to an anonymous posting on the activist website Indybay, which is titled, "UCLA Students Were Attacked Last Night So We Retaliated With a Firebomb on UCB Campus."

The poster, with the byline "student intifada," writes in all caps, "NOT SURE WHAT BUILDING IT EVEN WAS. HONESTLY DONT REALLY CARE. EVERY SINGLE BUILDING ON THE UC BERKELEY CAMPUS DESERVES TO BE INCINERATED FOLLOWING THE UC SYSTEM'S TREATMENT OF STUDENT PROTESTORS." And, the poster adds, "LONG LIVE THE STUDENT INTIFADA FOR PALESTINE LIBERATION. STOP THE GENOCIDE NOW. UC SYSTEM MUST DIVEST FROM ISRAEL OR FACE OUR WRATH OF REVENGE."

A separate posting on Indybay after the incident on Sunday, attributed to "marilyn's daughters," bragged of the previous acts of arson and a "successful looting of a u.c.b supply building of thousands of dollars," and it mentioned a Father's Day arson of "mostly construction materials, wood pallets, and massive dry bush area."

UCB Police subsequently posted to X about an act of arson at the Dwinelle Annex Construction Site around 1:37 pm Sunday.

The Indybay post makes repeated reference to the "u.c.b. kkkampus," and refers to UC police attacks on student protesters at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. It concludes, regarding the most recent arson, "this was done on father's day for all the palestinian fathers who have lost their children at the hands of the zionist and amerikkkan settler states."

While Goonan does not seem to have a social media presence himself, he comes in in a tweet from last fall after his arrest in San Francisco — where he was apparently among the protesters who gathered outside that anti-trans (TERF) feminist convention that, bizarrely, decided to have its meeting at the Chinatown Hilton in San Francisco. Arrest records show Goonan was arrested September 18, 2023 for vandalism ($5000 or more) and resisting arrest.

For the current arson charges, Goonan was booked into Santa Rita Jail and his bail was set at $1 million.

The SF Standard reports that Goonan "lives with his parents" in Pleasant Hill, which is where he was arrested on Monday.

Among Goonan's published work online is this 2017 academic article about the Black Panthers' newspaper, The Black Panther, which, he writes, "offers a blueprint for U.S.-based radical organizations experimenting with the scientific, premeditated, and necessarily methodical artistry of social revolution."

In a bio, Goonan described himself as an "scholar-activist" who is seeking a professorship.

An attorney for Goonan, Jeff Wozniak, tells the Standard that the FBI were part of the raid on Goonan's home on Monday. And, Wozniak says in statement, "It is an investigation focused on Mr. Goonan’s political beliefs in a free Palestine and against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. If charges are filed, Mr. Goonan’s legal team will aggressively fight the charges."

Wozniak adds, "It is my hope, however, that [District Attorney Pamela Price] does not engage in this political persecution, does not file charges and that Mr. Goonan is released from jail."

Photo via Alameda County Sheriff's Office/Berkeley Scanner