KSU president blasts professor in FBI ISIS probe

By Nick Glunt

Beacon Journal staff writer

Kent State University President Beverly Warren is distancing the college from a professor who’s being investigated by the FBI for possible ties to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

In an email to university faculty and students Wednesday, Warren blasted associate professor Julio Pino for his history of anti-Israel comments.

“We continue to find Julio Pino’s comments reprehensible and counter to our core values of civil discourse and respect,” Warren wrote. “As a university, we do not defend his views, and he does not speak on behalf of Kent State or members of our community.”

She assured students that the FBI believes there is “no indication of a threat to campus.”

“Campus safety continues to be our top priority at Kent State,” she said, “and we remain committed to providing a safe learning environment for our community.”

Pino, who has denied any involvement with the radical Muslim group, has a history of unpopular opinions that have landed him in the headlines several times in the past couple of decades.

In 2002, he wrote a column in the Kent Stater eulogizing an 18-year-old suicide bomber. In 2005 and 2006, he wrote letters to the paper to criticize American policy in the Middle East. In 2009, he was interviewed by the Secret Service about his beliefs. In 2011, he shouted “Death to Israel!” at a public lecture by a former Israeli diplomat. In 2014, he accused “academic friends” of causing the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians.

A search of Warren’s Twitter handle showed she had received hundreds of tweets, many criticizing the university for allowing Pino to teach even after his controversial behavior.

“Professors who advocate Islamic terrorism have no place in our open society. ‘Nuff said,” wrote Norman Birnberg on Twitter.

Others went so far as to call for Pino’s termination.