Illinois Rep. Charlie Meier has introduced legislation that would ban anyone convicted of a crime related to terrorism from serving as a teacher at colleges and universities that take taxpayer dollars.
The bill introduced in the state House comes shortly after it was discovered the University of Illinois system, which includes three schools, hired a handful of teachers with ties to terrorism.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hired — then fired and rehired — James Kilgore, a felon convicted of murder during a bank robbery and of being a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst, The Daily Caller reported.
Mr. Kilgore spent 30 years running from the law, hiding mostly in South Africa under an alias. In 2002, he was extradited and sent to prison in the United States for six years. After his release, he was hired to teach history at the University of Illinois, The Daily Caller said.
“He was convicted of terrorism against America and a second-degree murder charge,” Mr. Meier told the State Journal-Register. “I think those are pretty strong convictions and that’s what this bill’s about.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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