Alleged anti-Israel UC Berkeley arsonist and firebomber pleads not guilty to federal charges

Casey Gonan, the man accused of several arsons and a firebombing of a University of California, Berkeley, police cruiser, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges against him.

Goonan was indicted by a federal grand jury of using fire or explosives to damage property used in, or affecting, interstate commerce, and possession of an unregistered firearm, according to Berkleyside.

During an arrangement hearing on Friday, Goonan pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Federal prosecutors said an individual believed to be Goonan was seen on security video setting a bag of Molotov cocktails under a University of California Police Department cruiser and lighting it on fire in the early morning hours of June 1.

[RELATED: Federal grand jury indicts alleged anti-Israel UC Berkeley arsonist and firebombed]

The cruiser was deemed a “total loss,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. Ramsey’s office, but said that the vehicle didn’t explode “in part due to the rapid response of UCPD officers.”

Federal law enforcement officials said a blog post claiming responsibility for the firebombing of the police cruiser was either written by Goonan or an associate.

The blog post explained that the firebombing was “in solidarity” with arrested students at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of California, Los Angeles who were arrested during anti-Israel encampments.

”Knife to the throat of Zionism. Death to amerikkka. Glory to the martyrs,” read the blog post.

Jeff Wozniak, an attorney for Goonan, told Berkleyside that Goonan “has entered a plea of not guilty and we look forward to fighting this case.”

On July 11, Goonan was again arrested after allegedly throwing rocks at a federal office building in Oakland while holding Molotov cocktails.

That incident wasn’t included in the indictment.

[RELATED: UC Berkeley arson suspect ‘considers himself a ‘scholar-activist,’ ‘abolitionist,’ and aspiring professor]

According to a letter signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikhil Bhagat, Goonan was “intending to break a window and toss one or more lit devices into an interior office.”

When Goonan was seen by a security guard, he “placed the bag with Molotov cocktails inside a planter that abuts the 12th Street side of the building and lit it on fire before fleeing.”