A report surfaced yesterday that a Kent State professor is being investigated by the FBI for allegedly having ties to terrorism and recruiting students to join ISIS.
Professor Julio Pino is the subject of a joint terrorism task force investigation by the FBI, according to an FBI source that spoke with cleveland19.com.
Pino defended himself and told the student newspaper that he’s broken no laws. “I fulfill my duties as an American citizen by speaking out on issues that some people find controversial, of course, but no, I have not violated any U.S. laws that I am aware of,” Pino said.
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Pino is an associate history professor who teaches two classes that focus on Latin America. In 2011 he sparked a controversy when he yelled “Death to Israel” during a former Israeli diplomat’s speech. In 2002 he wrote a eulogy for a teenage Palestinian suicide bomber that was published in the student newspaper.
Kent State President Beverly Warren assured students, faculty and parents that there was no threat to the campus. She said the university continues “to find Pino’s comments reprehensible and counter to the core values of civil discourse and respect.”
The FBI cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, but a source said that Pino’s been on the FBI’s radar since 2014.
