Kent State professor under FBI scrutiny denies ties to ISIS, denounces violence

History professor Julio 'Assad' Pino, infamous for his hardline anti-Israel rhetoric, is currently under FBI investigation. Recovered Facebook posts indicate that he may have been sympathetic to terrorist causes, authorities say.

The FBI is currently investigating a Kent State University professor with possible ties to Islamic terrorists.

History professor Julio “Assad” Pino, known for his anti-Israel rhetoric, has been under federal investigation for the past year and half, an anonymous source with the Federal Bureau of Investigation told the Kent University news service.

For his part, Dr. Pino says he does not have any type of connection with the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

“I’ve never broken the law. I support no violence or violent organizations,” he told the Akron Beacon Journal. “One man or one woman’s interpretation of events can be very different from another’s. As they say, ‘Haters gonna hate.’ Truth always prevails, and truth will prevail in this case.”

According to the Ohio university, he’s still teaching classes.

"Kent State is fully cooperating with the FBI," the university said in a statement to Fox News. "As this is an ongoing investigation, we willl have no further comment. The FBI has assured Kent State that there is no threat to campus."

Pino was born in Cuba and later converted to Islam. Authorities say recovered Facebook posts suggest that he’s sympathetic to terrorist causes.

"Sheik Osama (May Allah be Pleased with Him) was the greatest, and desrves [sic] praise for kicking off this jihad," a post from an account under his name says, referring to Osama bin Laden, Fox reports. "However, the organization he left behind is not the same AQ he founded. The brave warriors of AQAP and the Nusraf Jabbat should join #IslamicState."

He told the Beacon Journal that the probe is a response to his outspoken rhetoric on the Middle East – specifically, Israel. In 2011, he shouted “Death to Israel!” during a lecture by a former Israeli diplomat and has previously written controversial op-eds eulogizing a suicide bomber and criticizing American foreign policy.

“I can only imagine, given my past record at Kent State dealing with controversial issues about the Middle East, some people may be favorable or unfavorable,” he said. “Rumors start, and that’s the only thing I can think would draw attention from a government agency.”

Several of his colleagues and students have already been interviewed by the FBI. In 2014, he accused fellow academics of causing the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians, the Journal reported.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Kent State professor under FBI scrutiny denies ties to ISIS, denounces violence
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2016/0120/Kent-State-professor-under-FBI-scrutiny-denies-ties-to-ISIS-denounces-violence
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe