Kent State University professor Julio Pino, who was recently implicated in praising terrorism for over a decade, received numerous awards from the university despite the administration being fully aware of his record.
Pino received two Faculty Excellence Awards, one in 2003 and one in 2010, according to an analysis from the Clarion Project. He started teaching at Kent State in 1992. He received tenure in 1998.
He converted to Islam and proclaimed support for suicide bombings in Israel in 2002. Specifically, he wrote an op-ed praising a female Palestinian suicide bomber. He said she was a “shining star.”
In 2007, Pino wrote for a website which was overtly pro-al-Qaida. While Pino admitted his involvement after an investigation by his colleague Dr. Mike Adams, no action was taken Pino.
At the time, the homepage of the website read, “We are a jihadist news service, and provide battle dispatches, training manuals and jihad videos for our brothers worldwide. All we want is to get Allah’s pleasure. We will write ‘jihad’ across our foreheads and the stars.”
The school confirmed that he had written for the website called Global War.
In 2009, the Secret Service paid Pino a visit.
During a lecture given on campus by an Israeli diplomat in 2011, Pino shouted, “Death to Israel!” This incident sparked a national debate. Additionally, in 2014, Pino wrote a letter implying that academics who support Israel should be killed.
“Lest you think this is a personal attack I swear it applies equally to all who engage in collaboration with fascism, and we both know the fate of collaborators,” he wrote.
“I hold you directly responsible for the murder of over 1,400 Palestinian children, women and elderly civilians over the past month,” he added. “This is not symbolic or even legally justified homicide on your part but actual, cold-blooded, calculated killing, for which you are culpable. Your names are scrawled on every bullet fired, bomb dropped, body buried and burnt forehead in Gaza. May your names become a curse word on the lips of every justice-loving person on earth, along with “Obama”and “Netanyahu.””
In that same year, Pino gave up his position on the editorial board of the academic journal Latin American Perspectives, saying that it was pro-Israeli.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are currently conducting a joint investigation to determine if allegations of terror ties are legitimate and whether he has served as a recruiter for the Islamic State. Pino has fervently denied any connection with ISIS. So far, the FBI has interviewed about 20 of his students.
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