Julio Pino, an associate history professor at Kent State University in Ohio, is currently under investigation by the FBI for possible ties to the Islamic State group.
An unnamed FBI special agent told the school's newspaper, KentWired, that the bureau's joint terrorism task force has been investigating Pino's alleged involvement with the Islamic State group for the past year-and-a-half and whether he tried to recruit his own students. The agent said that the FBI interviewed a few school faculty members and over 20 of Pino's students on Tuesday.
The report was confirmed by Kent State spokesman Eric Mansfield. "Kent State is fully cooperating with the FBI. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will have no further comment," Mansfield said, adding that the "FBI has assured Kent State that there is no threat to campus."
He would not comment on whether Pino would be allowed to continue teaching two classes this semester: History of Cuba and Central America and a senior seminar in history.
Pino denied supporting the Islamic State group. "I've not broken the law," Pino told KentWired. "I don't advocate that anyone else break the law, so I'll stand by that statement that 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 laws that I'm aware of or that anyone has informed me of. ... And I ask others to respect my freedom of speech as I respect theirs."
Kent State's president Beverly Warren denounced Pino's views on Twitter Tuesday, saying "Prof. Pino doesn't speak on behalf of Kent State. We find his comments reprehensible & counter to our core values."
Prof. Pino doesn't speak on behalf of @KentState. We find his comments reprehensible & counter to our core values. https://t.co/TRWLTo6FBn
— Beverly Warren (@PresBWarren) January 20, 2016
It's not surprising that the FBI would be investigating Pino since he has a history of controversial remarks about Israel and terrorism, and a review of his Facebook page by The Daily Beast shows that he posted messages referencing the Islamic State group and 9/11.
Pino wrote a column in 2002 calling a teenage Palestinian suicide bomber a martyr, and in 2011, he shouted "Death to Israel!" during a campus lecture by an Israeli diplomat. During the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict, Pino suggested that academics who support Israel - "the spiritual heir to Nazism" - and ignore the plight of Palestinians should be killed, notes The Daily Caller.
While those comments aren't necessarily grounds for prosecution, the pro-terrorism comments on his Facebook might be, according to The Daily Beast. One picture posted by Pino in 2014 appears to show two masked Islamic State group fighters holding guns in the back of a truck. "Keep it a secret: that's me on the left!" Pino wrote in the image's comment section. Another photo shows Pino standing in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. "I told Ziad Jarrah to head for the Capitol, but did he listen? No!" Pino commented. Jarrah was one of the men suspected of hijacking United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, which was thought to be headed for the Capitol but crashed into Shanksville, Pa.
