It's Time to #FreeAustinTice

The National Press Club will mark the anniversary of the abduction and detention of Award-winning journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice on Friday, August 14 by unveiling a Freedom Clock that will display a dynamic record of the time Austin has been unjustly detained in Syria.

The event will take place in the lobby of the Club by the staircase at noon, Aug. 14. Reservations are required for contact tracing reasons. Please email Lindsay Underwood at [email protected] to reserve.    

The Clock will be in the lobby of the Club which typically hosts 250,000 visitors a year for 2,000 events including the activities of the Club’s 3,000 members. Just this month, visitors to the Club included: Mrs. Pence, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

Visitors who view the clock will see seconds tick up adding to the record of unjust detention Tice has endured – a record that will reach the 8-year mark this week. No journalist has been held as long as Tice, including Terry Anderson of the Associated Press, who was unjustly detained in Lebanon.

Club President Michael Freedman will unveil the clock, make brief remarks, and renew the Club’s call for Tice’s release. The event will be webcast. Those expected to attend via webcast are Tice’s parents Marc and Debra Tice of Houston. Austin Tice is one of the National Press Club’s 2015 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Honorees and is a Press Club member.