Terrorists teaching at public universities

Convicted terrorist James Kilgore working at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 8, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET!

INGRAHAM: In the "FACTOR Investigation" segment tonight, terrorists teaching at public universities. Now, you may remember that Bill Ayers, the unrepentant domestic terrorist and one-time friend of President Obama, used to teach at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Well, now, THE FACTOR has learned that James Kilgore, a convicted terrorist who spent 27 years on the run, is working at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign Campus.

Kilgore was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, the radical group in the 1970s responsible for bank robberies, killings, and the kidnapping Patty Hearst.

He was finally captured in South Africa in 2002 and extradited to the United States where he was convicted for the 1975 murder of a California housewife. He served six years.

Now, Chris Kennedy, the Chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, is pushing for the university to ban Kilgore from working there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

But some professors are actively supporting him, citing, and I kid you not, academic freedom. Joining us now from Springfield, Illinois, Republican State Senator Chapin Rose, who has been investigating Kilgore's employment at the university.

Senator, first of all, if people hear this, and I think they'll, "You've got to be kidding me."

CHAPIN ROSE, SENATOR, ILLINOIS STATE (R): Yes.

INGRAHAM: Let's say this guy -- let's say this guy, it turns out, was caught praying at an abortion clinic, or had given to some propay (ph) campaign in California, the professors would probably be like, "Get him out of here," you know, "he's far too extremist for us."

But, I guess, Symbionese Liberation Army and second-degree murder, that's academic freedom?

ROSE: Laura, it's just crazy. And, frankly, my constituents -- living in a university town, there's always something interesting and there's a lot of rolling of the eyes goes on.

But, you know, my constituents are beyond angry. And the fact is, the state always got all kinds of budget problems. And it turns out that there's, apparently, money for this.

And I just -- you know, you learn these things, you read about them and you go, "There they go again." Absolutely amazing.

INGRAHAM: Well, what's the recourse here for the citizens in your district. I bet, if you took a poll on this, right, there'd probably be --

(LAUGHTER)

ROSE: Right.

INGRAHAM: -- overwhelming support for what you're trying to do. But the university has its own charter, although taxpayer money obviously goes to the university. But they have their own --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

-- charter and their own rules for hiring and firing, do they not.

ROSE: Yes, sure they do. But, you know what, this is a public institution, it's a lingering institution. The state of Illinois spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

-- in taxpayer dollars on this institution. And the tuition payers, quite frankly, have fair value issues here. You know, the guy has a Ph.D. in African Studies which was issued in, frankly, an assumed name, --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

-- you know. And the last thing he was doing was teaching art. I mean, if you're a student at the University of Illinois, --

INGRAHAM: But can't they find anyone else. I mean, what is he teaching now --

ROSE: No, I mean -- this is -- right. It's art, art.

INGRAHAM: What is he teaching now at the university. Art.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE: Actually, right now, it's -- yes, he's just finishing up an art class at the U of I.

INGRAHAM: Oh.

ROSE: And he has a Ph.D. in African Studies. I mean, this kind of stuff is crazy.

You know, look, the guy is entitled to live his life. He's served his sentence. But it doesn't mean we have to put him on the payroll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

I mean, this is just --

INGRAHAM: Well, I guess, -- I mean, it kills me to play devil's advocate in this situation --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

-- but I'm going to play it.

ROSE: Right.

INGRAHAM: He did serve his time. And --

ROSE: Right.

INGRAHAM: And society is supposed to move beyond and you know, --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

-- forgive and forget. I mean, we don't do that really with, you know, child predators --

ROSE: Yes.

INGRAHAM: -- and I'm happy about that. But, I mean, is he not allowed to work. And if there's no rule against --

ROSE: Of course

INGRAHAM: -- hiring someone who's served time as a second-degree murdered, then what are you really --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

-- going to accomplish here.

ROSE: Yes, so, first of all, sure, absolutely, he's entitled to live his life and he had served his time. But, again, there's absolutely no -- you know, we don't have to put him on the payroll.

We certainly don't have to put him on the payroll to teach art.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

I mean, that's absolutely, you know, ridiculous. One of the e-mails I've found even from him was he even questioned the fact that he's not qualified to teach art.

Yet, there he is. But, look, the reality is this. You know, what is someone with these types of convictions --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

-- doing, you know, as a janitor of U of I, let alone, you know, a professor. I mean, this makes no sense.

And one of the things and one of the questions I've had for them is, so if -- take James Kilgore out of this equation for a moment, you know, someone else paroles out of the state correctional centers, having committed some act of arm violence, are they going to be put in dormitories , the students.

INGRAHAM: Right. Well, how about former rapists.

ROSE: And are they going to be in, you know --

INGRAHAM: Let's take this a step further. Let's say you are convicted of multiple rapes over a course of, you know, some course of time. You did your time.

Now, you're out. Should you teach a women's studies class. I mean, should you be in a situation where you're surrounded by a lot of young men, a lot of pretty, young coeds.

And you're in that environment. I mean, I don't know what women would say in that instance. But this is a man who has extreme, you know, radical views. And how many --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

-- professors do we know are supporting his staying there. Is it 12, --

ROSE: Yes --

INGRAHAM: -- is it five, is it a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE: No, there are about 300 that signed the petition. But let's bear in mind, there are 2,500 faculty members at the institution, so, you know, almost --

INGRAHAM: So, 300 of these professors. Let me get --

ROSE: Correct.

INGRAHAM: -- let me get this straight for the viewers. Three hundred professors at the University of Illinois, in your district, believe that this man has a right to stay there because of academic freedom?

ROSE: Right. I mean, look, again --

INGRAHAM: How is that academic freedom. I don't understand that.

ROSE: Yes, it's not.

(LAUGHTER)

That's the bottom line there. And, you know, --

INGRAHAM: Freedom to be a second-degree murderer, I guess.

ROSE: This is -- all of the issues are brought up at the University of Illinois at their budget hearing this year.

I mean, first of all, there's the issue of, you know, why are the students being subjected to this. Why are they paying tuition dollars for this.

INGRAHAM: No, no, we made that point.

ROSE: Then there's the issue of -- right, then there's the issue of safety but --

INGRAHAM: But, yes, it's an issue of right and wrong at this point.

ROSE: Right. But why was this done in the first place. I mean --

INGRAHAM: Yes, well, they're not vetting their people obviously. I mean, --

ROSE: Yes, that's exactly right.

INGRAHAM: I'm telling you -- Senator, we're out of time but, I'm telling you, if you were a member of the Tea Party, he probably wouldn't have gotten hired in the first place.

ROSE: No, he would have been gone.

INGRAHAM: Exactly.

ROSE: Yes, he would have been gone.

INGRAHAM: We appreciate it, senator.

Content and Programming Copyright 2012 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2012 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.