Northwestern alum Casey Goonan (Weinberg ’22) was arrested Monday on suspicion of firebombing a police car as well as three other arson incidents on University of California Berkeley’s campus between June 1-16, according to Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal Arson and Bomb Unit.
Goonan’s arrest follows a series of protests on Berkeley’s campus regarding treatment of student speech as pro-Palestinian demonstrations have appeared again at UC schools, with some supporters claiming responsibility for the arson attacks online, according to an IndyBay.org post.
The group, called Student Intifada on the website, wrote “UCLA students were attacked last night, so we retaliated with a firebomb on UCB campus,” most likely referring to reports of police violence at the UCLA Chapter for Students for Justice in Palestine Palestinian vigil on June 10 along with the reappearance of their encampment.
Goonan, 34, who earned a PhD in African American Studies two years ago, considers himself a “scholar-activist,” according to a 2018 academic journal titled “Sketches of Moral Duress: On the Analytics of White Liberal Ethicality—Mediating Crisis in the U.S. National (Racial) Form.” He is currently being held on a $1 million bail.
While charges are yet to be filed, Goonan’s lawyer, Jeff Wozniak, said law enforcement officials raided Goonan’s parents home in Pleasant Hill, California on Monday morning.
“It is an investigation focused on Mr. Goonan’s political beliefs in a free Palestine and against the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Wozniak said in a statement. “The search warrant specifically sought ‘documents related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine,’ illustrating that this is an investigation to place blame on Mr. Goonan because of his opposition to genocide and demand for a free Palestine.”
Goonan was part of the Critical Theory program for Weinberg during his time at NU, which attempts to analyze “power, conflict and crisis.” He completed his undergraduate degree in Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside.
If charged, Goonan could face multiple felonies, including the possession and use of destructive devices and multiple counts of arson.
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