National Press Club moves Freedom Clock to 14th Street to share Austin Tice’s story with public

The Freedom Clock tracking the captivity of award-winning journalist Austin Tice digitally struck nine years at noon on Saturday. The National Press Club, which set up the clock in its lobby last summer, moved it Saturday to the 14th Street sidewalk in front of the Club entrance to raise public awareness about Tice’s plight.

“There’s a lot of activity around Austin’s safe return, but it has been nine years,” Club Executive Director Bill McCarren told an audience gathered at the clock’s viewing at noon on Saturday. “It’s important that people remember him and think about him.”

The wide-screen TV that projects the clock was set up on the sidewalk from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. The display included taped remarks from Club President Lisa Nicole Matthews that were broadcast on a continuous loop.

In the video, Matthews said the Freedom Clock had been seen by a limited number of people since it was established last year because of the decreased traffic in the Club lobby due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This year, we are bringing the Freedom Clock down to the sidewalk,” Matthews said in the video. “We want people to stop and ask what it is. We want them to take selfies and share them with their friends. We want them to think about Austin.”

During the time the clock was stationed on the sidewalk, several passersby stopped to have selfies taken with a banner that featured Tice’s photo and the #FreeAustinTice social media hashtag.

Club Executive Chef Susan Delbert offered cookies decorated with #FreeAustinTice to people who walked by the Freedom Clock, briefly telling Austin’s story to those who accepted the treat. She started the afternoon with three dozen cookies and had five left around 1:30 p.m.

The Club launched a petition drive on Change.org last week to encourage support for Tice. The document, which calls on the Biden administration to make a diplomatic priority of Tice’s release, had 59,562 signatures as of Sunday night.

A Polk Award-winning journalist, Tice was abducted on Aug. 14, 2012, during a reporting trip to Syria. He had covered the country’s civil war as a freelancer for McClatchy Newspapers, the Washington Post and CBS News.

In the past few days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has vowed to bring Tice home from Syria. Tice’s parents issued a statement on his 40th birthday, Aug. 11, calling for his release, and they were recently interviewed for NBC Nightly News by anchor Lester Holt.

Last year, former President Donald Trump vowed to do all he could to free Tice. A U.S. delegation went to Syria last September to meet with government officials to begin discussions about releasing Tice.

Those talks did not results in Tice’s release, but Matthews said she remains hopeful.  

“The Tice family has received a warm welcome from the new Biden administration,” Matthews said. “There is an enduring sense that we are headed toward progress and freedom for Austin Tice. And we see more reasons to hope, even today. Still, the Freedom Clock ticks on.”

She added near the end of the video: “There cannot be a 10th year. Austin must come home.”