The Washington Post has launched a campaign calling for the safe release of Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing covering the war in Syria in 2012.
The campaign asks members of the press, lawmakers and government officials to wear #FreeAustinTice bracelets to help raise awareness of Tice’s case.
The bracelets can be ordered through an online form by 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 9, the company said in a statement.
The Post’s Press Freedom Partnership, a public service initiative that promotes press freedom worldwide, announced the campaign Monday. “We hope that by giving Austin’s case a more visible presence, we’ll see movement on his return,” said Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of The Washington Post.
Tice, who was 31 when he was captured, was born in Texas, and he served as an officer of the United States Marine Corps.
He was a student at Georgetown Law School in 2012 when he traveled to Syria as a freelance journalist for McClatchy and other news organizations.
In August 2012, he was south of Damascus, writing his final stories and planning to leave for Lebanon. He got into a car in Darayya, a Damascus suburb, and was detained at a checkpoint. Five weeks later, a video was released showing him held by unidentified armed men.
No one has claimed responsibility, and no other information has come from his captors.
Tice’s family has fought hard for his freedom, and has praised the Trump administration for its efforts to bring him home.
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