"By the standards of the San Francisco Bay Area's hard left, Casey Goonan's crimes were unremarkable. A police SUV partially burned by an incendiary device on UC Berkeley's campus. A planter of shrubs lit on fire after Goonan unsuccessfully tried to smash a glass office window and throw a firebomb into the federal building in downtown Oakland. But thanks to a series of communiques where Goonan claimed to have carried out the summer 2024 attacks in solidarity with Hamas and the East Bay native's anarchist beliefs, federal prosecutors claimed Goonan "intended to promote" terrorism on top of a felony count for using an incendiary device."
"Goonan's original charges notably did not contain terrorism counts. In late September, US District Court Judge Jeffrey White sentenced Goonan, whom they called "a domestic terrorist" during the hearing, to 19 and a half years in prison plus 15 years probation. Prosecutors also asked that he be sent to the Bureau of Prisons facility that contains a Communications Management Units, a highly restrictive assignment reserved for what the government claims are "extremist" inmates with terrorism-related offenses or affiliations."
Casey Goonan carried out arson attacks including a partially burned police SUV at UC Berkeley and an attempted firebombing at a federal building in Oakland. Goonan released communiques claiming the summer 2024 attacks in solidarity with Hamas and citing anarchist beliefs. Federal prosecutors argued those communiques showed an intent to promote terrorism in addition to incendiary-device felonies. A judge sentenced Goonan to 19 and a half years in prison plus 15 years probation and prosecutors sought placement in a Communications Management Unit. National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 expands indicators that could connect left-leaning beliefs to terrorism enforcement.
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