Club keeps pressing for answers about Austin Tice, establishes The Freedom Clock

Despite support for his release from President Donald Trump, journalist Austin Tice remains detained in Syria, and the National Press Club is continuing to help lead the push for his freedom.

Trump on Friday, Aug. 14, called on the Syrian government to help find Tice and bring him home. The day marked Tice’s eighth year of being held in the country, a record length of time for a U.S. reporter’s detention on foreign soil.

On Friday, the National Press Club highlighted the anniversary by establishing in its lobby The Freedom Clock that will record the time Tice remains captive. Tice, a Marine veteran, is an award-winning freelance journalist working for McClatchy, The Washington Post and CBS News.

Trump’s statement was the second time he’s mentioned Tice since March. In addition, 173 members of Congress have signed a letter asking Trump to prioritize Tice’s freedom. But there has been no breakthrough.

“What we all know today is that members of both parties in Congress and the president of the United States have come together in a unified call for Austin’s release,” Club President Michael Freedman said at the dedication of the Freedom Clock. “And yet we are gathered again just as we have come together for the last eight years on a hot summer’s day in August asking why Austin is still not home and whether anyone is standing in the way of this happening.”

Freedman added: “Today, on behalf of the entire press freedom community and the Tice family, we call on Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo and the administration to bring Austin home.”

A clue about the hold up may have been revealed by former National Security Advisor John Bolton in his book “In the Room Where it Happened,” Freedman said. Bolton writes about distracting Trump from talking to the Syrians about the release of U.S. hostages, which he said was “undesirable.”

Freedman plans to press Bolton about Tice in a Club virtual Newsmaker at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18.

“We are looking forward to talking with him and asking him ‘Why?’” Freedman said.

Tice’s parents are frustrated by what appears to be a bureaucratic block to their son’s release.

“We really feel that what Bolton wrote in his book is pretty much still the status, and we’re really working to push through that obstacle,” said Debra Tice, Austin’s mother, at the clock dedication. “That’s a big boulder for a little mom and pop to be taking on, and we appreciate having the Press Club behind us. Just keep pushing. We need to roll that thing out of the way.”

The Freedom Clock is the latest example of the Club’s efforts to free Tice. Over the last couple of years, it also has sponsored restaurant fundraisers – Night Out for Austin Tice and Night In for Austin Tice -- to finance an FBI reward fund for information leading to Tice’s safe return. The Club also organized last year a Capitol Hill lobbying day to make Tice’s situation a diplomatic priority.

The Club’s work on behalf of Tice is similar to the advocacy it helped lead on behalf of Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter who was held for 545 days in an Iranian prisoner before being released in 2016.

Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh, who also was detained for some time in Iran, spoke at the Freedom Clock dedication.

“Unfortunately, what we went through was a very small fraction of what the Tice family is going through, and they continue to endure,” said Rezaian, advocacy associate at the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Austin had been held for two years when Jason and I were arrested, and we have now been freed for five years. So, this grave injustice has to stop right now.”

The Club is working with Tice’s siblings on another Night Out effort this fall, which will center on celebrity chefs in key markets preparing gourmet food online while talking about Tice’s case with a member of the Tice family or a journalist.

“Everything that the Press Club has done in the past year has raised hope for Austin to come home,” Debra Tice said.

Austin's father, Marc Tice, said Austin will visit the Club when he comes home.

“We want Austin to be the one that flips the switch and shuts [The Freedom Clock] off,” he said.