Statement from the Tice Family on Brittney Griner’s Release
December 8, 2022
This morning we were happy to hear the good news that Brittney Griner has been released by the Russian government, and is on her way home from the nightmare she has endured. Every time an American is released from captivity abroad it lifts our hearts in gladness for their family and loved ones. This is more evidence that where there is a will there’s a way for the United States to secure the safe release and return of its unjustly held citizens.
We know the path to Austin’s release starts with serious dialogue between the US and Syrian governments. We are extremely disappointed by the National Security Council’s failure to act on President Biden’s May 2nd directive to “meet with the Syrians, listen to them, find out what they want, and work with them (to get Austin Tice safely home).” If the US government can work with Russia, there is no excuse for not directly engaging Syria. We renew our call to Jake Sullivan and his national security team to carry out the President’s orders. God willing, Austin will not spend another Christmas alone in captivity.
Debra and Marc Tice Statement on Meeting with President Biden
May 3, 2022
We eagerly accepted President Biden’s invitation for a meeting in the Oval Office. It was an uplifting meeting with substantive dialogue. In the presence of his senior staff, we had a frank and candid exchange of ideas. We were also honored to have some time alone with President Biden.
We asked President Biden to pursue sustained diplomatic engagement including transactional negotiation with the Syrian government for Austin’s safe return. This has been our request of the US and Syrian governments for more than eight years. We left this meeting with hope that there is renewed momentum for engagement.
Our discussion in the Oval Office took place in an atmosphere of confidence.
President Biden made significant, encouraging commitments for this effort.
For the love of our son we will not breach that confidence by sharing details.
We are anxious to see the President’s uplifting words put into action, confirming the assurance that Austin’s safe return is a priority for this administration.
With renewed vigor, we will continue to push for the diplomatic engagement and action necessary to see Austin walk free. May it be soon.
An open letter to President Biden from the parents of Austin Tice
We believe this can happen with your personal engagement and direct orders. In these early days of your administration, you have clearly messaged that family is at the core of your agenda. So we are asking you to express strong support, issue clear directions, and take meaningful action in a sincere effort to bring Austin safely home. We believe that if Austin were a member of your family, all the Bidens would rally around and come together to bring him home. On Austin’s behalf, because you are president of the country he honorably served as a Marine Corps officer, we are asking you for that kind of all-in effort. We believe you can do this. For Austin and our family, this is not too much to ask.
In 2012, Austin traveled to Syria to report on the uprising. He was delivering news and images of what he witnessed – working to explain the horrors of urban warfare. He worked for McClatchy News, winning a Polk Award for war reporting. He had several front-page stories in The Washington Post. His work was also carried by the Associated Press, NPR, CBS, BBC, Agence France-Presse and other outlets.
President Biden, you speak often and movingly of the significance of journalism and its value in a democratic society. Austin obviously shares these values with you and is paying a high price for doing this critically important work.
Your administration is uniquely positioned to help Austin. Your White House is staffed with seasoned professionals who know how to make a successful diplomatic approach for Austin. They know what can and must be done now, at this moment. They must build off the breakthroughs that were achieved by the previous administration; continuing direct engagement, relevant dialogue and significant action are crucial for Austin’s release. The time is now. Austin is waiting.
Mr. President, Austin needs you to step out and boldly lead. Please say our son’s name in public. Talk about Austin Tice; let people in Washington and Damascus know you are thinking of him. Put courage in their hearts to do the right thing. We have no doubt your family will support you, and our government will unite behind you.
We would welcome the opportunity for our family to meet with your family. We’d like to tell you more about Austin. A meeting of our loving families would send a strong message across our country and overseas. It would show that you have taken the lead and we are working on this together. Together, we can bring Austin safely home.
Respectfully,
Debra and Marc Tice and all the Tice family
Parent’s Statement for Austin Tice’s 40th Birthday
August 10, 2021
Our son, Austin Tice, was working as a journalist in Syria when he was arrested near Damascus on August 14, 2012. Aside from a proof of life video a few weeks later, he has been held in secret and in silence.
This week, on August 11, our family will celebrate Austin’s 40th birthday. We will celebrate with heartfelt gratitude that such an exceptional man, who has such a big brave heart, was gifted to our family. Austin fills the room with energy and enthusiasm, we miss his contagious laugh. We miss being able to share our love with him. As his parents, we will reflect on the overwhelming joy we felt when we first held him in our arms – arms which ache to hug him again.
Also this week, we will grieve and detest Austin’s detention day, August 14, nine long years ago. Austin had just celebrated his 31st birthday three days before he was arrested. It is a piercing sense of loss to consider that Austin has spent almost all of his 30’s deprived of his liberty and the pursuit of his dreams.
Our love and grief combine to fuel our determination and create a sense of urgency as we continue working for his secure release and safe return.
At the very same time, we are deeply grateful that in these past nine years our lives have been blessed by amazing, steadfast people and organizations which are unwavering in their outpouring of kindness and support.
We are also intensely frustrated by the irresolute, on-again-off-again involvement of our government and its insufficient resolve to secure Austin’s release.
Nevertheless, we are resolute. We are now imploring a third President of the United States to communicate to his administration that Austin’s secure release and safe return is a priority. There are many capable people working in our government who are eager to see Austin walk free; they must have President Biden’s authorization for significant and relevant diplomatic engagement with the Syrian government.
As with the past nine years, we continue to plead for the American and the Syrian governments to sincerely engage in a serious dialogue focused on Austin’s secure release and safe return.
We will pray, wait, and work to see Austin walk free. May it be soon.
Marc and Debra Tice
~ Faith ~ Hope ~ Love ~
November 21, 2020
Debra Tice, Mother of Journalist Austin Tice, Statement On Fox & Friends
“We are closer than we have ever been to having Austin safely home. We are tremendously grateful for President Trump’s commitment to bring Austin home; he has both the will and the ability to get this done.
Mr. President, as Commander in Chief we need you to step in and issue a direct order to your staff to maximize the effort and take the necessary steps to make this happen. Hopefully your people have told you what it takes. They tell me they need your orders.
We know you care deeply about Austin. We know you can get this done. We need you to oversee this until Austin is on the way home.
President Trump has one of the strongest records on bringing American hostages home. He has made a commitment to work hard to get Austin home. It is not too late to keep that commitment to Austin.”
Former Marine Captain Tice was working as a freelance journalist when he was abducted in Syria in 2012. More information can be found at austinticefamily.com. Austin’s work in Syria was recognized with a George Polk Award. He is a 2015 recipient of the National Press Club’s John Aubuchon Award for Press Freedom.
October 26, 2020
Bring Austin Home for Thanksgiving
The following is a statement from Debra Tice, the mother of journalist and Maine veteran Austin Tice, responding to Secretary Mike Pompeo’s press briefing of Wednesday 21 October.
Our family was elated to read in the Wall Street Journal that President Trump recently sent Kash Patel, a top White House aide, to Damascus, Syria, to begin the first real dialogue with the Syrian government in almost a decade. This has always been an essential component of securing the safe release of our son, Austin Tice, who has been detained in Syria since August 2012.
We are thrilled the President took this step. President Trump has had historic success in bringing home U.S. hostages. He is an advocate and an ally to families like ours.
Unfortunately for Austin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is undermining the President’s crucial outreach, refusing any form of direct diplomatic engagement with the Syrian government. During his press briefing on October 21st, he stood before the State Department press corps and said, in essence, there is nothing he is willing to do to bring my son home. This is in stark contrast to President Trump’s statement, “We stand with the Tice family and will not rest until we bring Austin home.”
President Trump is committed to seeing Austin walk free, whereas Secretary Pompeo is willing to accept his continued detention.
With the Damascus visit, the Syrian government has opened the door for dialogue toward Austin’s release. They have offered to do what President Trump so publicly asked back in March, “work with us” to bring Austin safely home. This opportunity should be enthusiastically engaged as a giant step toward not only the safe return of my son Austin, but also toward an end of strife in Syria, and the beginning of relief for the Syrian people.
Our President can and should insist upon continuing the dialogue with the Syrian government. This directive is fully in line with his desire to secure Austin’s safe release, to exit “endless wars” and to promote American interests.
People who agree about nothing else agree Austin’s captivity has gone on for too long and it is past time to secure his safe return.
Eight years. Austin is waiting, wanting to come home. Our family is waiting with open arms. His friends are waiting for a joyful homecoming celebration. People across America and around the world are waiting to see Austin walk free. We urge President Trump to override every obstacle and move forward on his commitment to bring Austin safely home.
Our family and so many others will be truly grateful to welcome Austin home for Thanksgiving.
October 19, 2020
Regarding Reports of US/Syria Meeting in Damascus
Bring my journalist brother home by Thanksgiving
My brother Austin asked me to go to Syria with him. Just months later, he was taken.
I was at the beach with my family when my brother Austin called. His schedule at Georgetown Law School had prevented him from joining us. I slipped into an empty room at the little house we were renting and listened, astonished, as he told me he was planning a trip to Syria that summer of 2012, and he was asking me to come with him.
To this day I’m not sure why he asked me. We had been on some adventures together, to Glacier National Park, and in the beautiful Pacific Northwest where I have made my home, but nothing approaching these stakes. Maybe he believed that I was up for it, that I had the same adventurous spirit burning in him, and that I would leap at the chance, fresh out of college with vague plans for the future, to help him change the world.
I turned him down. I couldn’t imagine myself in those circumstances, untrained, lacking the war zone experience he had as a Marine Corps veteran with three tours behind him. I encouraged him to follow his heart, to bear witness to the escalating conflict in Syria. I believed in his vision, admired his grit and was behind him completely. He left in May.
On Aug. 14, 2012, at a checkpoint outside Damascus, he disappeared.
My family has lost eight years …
That was 2,974 days ago. I have not heard from my brother since. No one has claimed responsibility for his detention. Every single one of those days, and every day, my family wakes up hoping, praying, that this will be the last day of his captivity.

I think of that call when I read about Austin now, and how easily my name could have been next to his. I think of what he has endured in captivity and of what he has missed — all the birthdays, weddings and births, Thanksgivings and Christmases, that my family and I have celebrated without him. In dark moments I wonder whether maybe, maybe, I could have been the difference. Maybe I would’ve said, “We shouldn’t get into this car,” maybe the hairs on the back of my neck would’ve stood up at the offer, and we would have gone another way. Maybe he wouldn’t have stayed so long had he felt responsible for keeping me, his scrawny, inexperienced, intellectualized little brother, safe.
I don’t dwell on those thoughts, but they have persisted. They grew beneath the slow realization that this would not be resolved quickly, that he wouldn’t be home in days, or weeks. Beneath the pride of every award he has received and every column calling for his return, they persist. The thought of what he has endured in eight years is made fresh in each one; I cannot avoid it. I could have been there.
… Don’t let us lose a ninth
No president in our history has been more personally committed than President Donald Trump to bringing home American citizens held abroad. Our president has made it clear, time and again: The return of Americans is a deeply personal priority for him. It was from him, this March, that America first heard Austin’s name said aloud by a president. My heart leapt that day. My family appreciates the powerful effort this administration is exerting to bring him home. We have felt the progress, centimeter by excruciating centimeter.
Now, as we approach a ninth holiday season with an empty seat at our family’s Thanksgiving, a ninth Christmas spent wondering whether Austin can see the stars, my brothers and sisters and I implore you from the depths of our hearts: Please help.
We beg you to reach out to your representatives in Congress. Tell them the story of the brother we love. Tell them it is a priority to see Austin’s safest and soonest return. Tell them to use their power to urge the president to restore Austin to our Thanksgiving table. Every second he stays in captivity cuts a deeper wound in the hearts of my family, and we can wait no longer. Help us make this summer the last he spends alone, and give 2020 a spark of brightness we so desperately need.
Join the campaign. Ask about Austin Tice. Bring him home.

Jacob Tice is the middle son of seven siblings. You can learn more about Austin at AustinTiceFamily.com.
March 19, 2020
On President Trump’s Remarks
We are tremendously grateful for the tireless work President Trump is doing to bring Austin safely home. His efforts for our son are unmatched and his support and commitment mean the world to us. The President has our deepest appreciation.
Robert O’Brien has also been by our side since he stepped into his role as Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. As National Security Advisor, he continues to be a tireless advocate for Austin and all Americans being held around the globe.
We are also profoundly grateful for all the love and support we have from Team Tice, you know who you are. Let’s get him home.
At this very disturbing time for our nation and the world, it is more important than ever to get Austin safely home. As President Trump did, we ask the Syrian government to do all they can to locate and safely return Austin to our family. May it be soon!
January 27, 2020
Debra Tice Statement at the National Press Club
I want to give you an update on current efforts. As many of you know, I went to Syria in 2014 and in 2015 to do whatever I could think of to free Austin. In 2012, Austin spent 83 days on the ground reporting from Syria. Coincidentally, in 2014, I spent 83 days in Damascus, searching for information about Austin. Not only was I asking on the street, reaching out to the International Red Cross/Red Crescent and the Syrian Red Crescent, and meeting with the ambassadors to Syria from the Vatican, the Czech Republic, and others, I was also contacting officials of the Syrian government, asking for meetings to plead for help. I was reaching out every day. I did have some meetings, but others were far more difficult.
Finally, after six weeks of what I call my mosquito method – of reaching out every day, six weeks of daily phone calls – I was given a message from a highly placed Syrian official. This is a quote: “I will not meet with the mother. Send a United States government official of appropriate title.”
Since that day, in March of 2014, almost six years ago, when Marc and I shared that message with the United States government, it is the only thing we have been asking on Austin’s behalf – a meeting. Direct engagement with those best positioned to secure Austin’s safe release.
We have no capacity for understanding why this request has not been met. Almost six years ago, the Syrian government opened the door for a discussion. We believe this is quite possibly the simplest request that could be made in Austin’s situation. We’ve been making this ask on behalf of Austin through all the proper channels of two administrations. Obviously, Barack Obama was unsuccessful.
We know things are very different with the current administration. President Trump is committed to bringing Americans home and has proven that commitment through action. We know that commitment extends to our son, your colleague, Austin. The President has directed his team to make it happen. We know with certainty there are those in his administration who are working to make this essential meeting happen.
Apparently, somewhere in the chain, there is a senior US government official who is hesitating or stalling. There is no possible way for me to understand why anyone would defy the President’s will and choose to leave our beloved son, who put his life on the line serving this country three tours as a Marine Corps officer. Why would they choose to leave him waiting in captivity instead of taking the necessary steps to get this critical discussion under way.
I strongly believe this engagement can happen very soon. President Trump will be giving the State of the Union address next Tuesday, February 4th. It would be great good news for the President to be able to announce the safe release of Austin Tice. I am reasonably hopeful this can happen.
With many thanks to the National Press Club and the Press Club Institute, last year was a big year for Austin. In May, the Night Out For Austin followed in September with the Ask About Austin Tice campaign on Capitol Hill, helped create sustained momentum.
Your work makes a difference for Austin. Ask about him. Keep at it. Be relentless.
In November, the Georgetown School of Foreign Service created a great deal of positive outreach for Austin when they awarded him one of only three Centennial Honors for service to others.
From phone calls and meetings with our government team, I know there has been progress.
We must push through whatever is holding us back and meet this reasonable ask.
Austin is waiting. We are ready. The time is now.
August 11, 2019
We Invite You to Celebrate Austin’s Birthday
Thirty-eight years ago today, after nine months of waiting, we finally had the great delight of meeting our firstborn, Austin Bennett Tice.
Today, we wish we could remind him of how glad we are he was born, how blessed we are to be his parents, how truly we believe the world is a better place for having him in it.
But we can’t do that; Austin is detained in Syria. We are not allowed any contact with him.
Today is his 2554th day of detention.
Austin went to Syria in 2012. As a freelance journalist, he was there to cover the escalating conflict and raise awareness of the horrible consequences of urban warfare, especially for children.
His 31st birthday was the last time we were able to share the joy of this special date with him – singing the “birthday song” over the internet, reminiscing about the past year and sharing dreams for the year ahead.
Three days later, on August 14, 2012, Austin was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus.
He has been held in secret and in silence for almost seven years.
Today, we are wistfully thinking of all the ways we wish we could celebrate with him.
We are fondly remembering wonderful birthday celebrations of the past – delightful summer gatherings of family and friends which included imaginative cakes, party games, and, of course, thoughtful gifts.
There are so many things we would love to do to celebrate with Austin today, but the birthday candles and games and gifts will have to wait until he comes home.
Until then, we will continue to faithfully pray and relentlessly work to bring our son safely home.
Today, we are celebrating by announcing the launch of the “Ask About Austin” campaign.
We invite you to join us in urging the White House and the State Department to continue to use every diplomatic means available to secure Austin’s safest and soonest return.
We ask you to help make our birthday wish for Austin come true:
Go to AskAboutAustinTice.org to send messages to the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and your members of Congress. Add your signature to a petition to the U.S. Government asking that all available diplomatic means be used to bring Austin safely home.
If you are in the Washington DC metro area, please sign up to volunteer on September 23, when we plan to canvass Capitol Hill to raise awareness for Austin and make sure every member of Congress knows about the upcoming two-day exhibit of Austin’s photos from Syria, beginning September 30 in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building.
Invite your family, your friends, and your colleagues to join us in celebrating Austin by bringing him safely home.
July 28, 2019
Release of Sam Goodwin
We rejoice at the news of Sam Goodwin’s release and safe return from Syria. We pray with thanksgiving for God’s mercy and grace. Our family remains hopeful as we continue to pray and work to bring our son Austin safely home. May it be soon.
February 4, 2019
Washington Post Super Bowl LIII Commercial
We were deeply moved by the memorable Washington Post Super Bowl LIII ad; it was impressive – the message is strong and important. The placement of the ad, during the most exciting moments of the game, was providential.
We are grateful to The Washington Post for their decision to include our son Austin Tice. It was an honor to be part of the hectic process of creating such a powerful message in less than one week.
We hope the vast audience will amplify the call for Austin’s safe release.
We faithfully pray we will soon see Austin walking free again.
#FreeAustinTice
www.austinticefamily.com
Press Conference Remarks – Marc and Debra Tice
Lebanon Press Club, Beirut, Lebanon
We want to thank the Press Club for hosting us. Also, we sincerely appreciate everything Ayman Mhanna has done to pull this event together.
Thank you all for being here, thank you for continuing to cover the news of our son’s captivity.
I would like to remind you of who Austin is:
Austin is the eldest of our seven children. He is a big guy with a big personality and a big heart. He loves being the big brother to all of his siblings – they miss him in so many ways. Austin is an avid reader and always had a keen interest in World History. When he was still quite young, his desire to know about the world grew into a passion for news of current events. He grew up listening to world news on the radio and reading global news publications. He always dreamed of being an international correspondent.
As his curiosity and knowledge of the world expanded, his desire to better understand global issues grew into a sense of duty wrapped in a heart of compassion.
He first learned to lead through service to others as he became an Eagle Scout. Later, he gained a deeper understanding of international politics as he graduated through Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. His sense of duty compelled him to enlist with the United States Marine Corps, where he became an esteemed Captain.
Most recently, in the summer before his final year of law school, all of his interests, and his passion, and his experience coalesced into a call to bear witness in Syria.
Austin began reporting from Syria in May 2012.
On the 14th of August in 2012, on a Tuesday, 329 weeks ago, Austin was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus. He remains captive in Syria, now six years, three months and three weeks.
This is our eighth trip to Beirut, our first press conference was here, in this room, 6 years ago.
We are here again to continue to raise awareness of Austin’s detention and to advocate for his safe release.
Freedom of expression and access to accurate information are fundamental human rights, regardless of frontiers. Even so, today we find that journalists worldwide are in greater danger than ever before.
Austin went to Syria as a photojournalist. It is said that one picture is worth a thousand words. Austin wanted people to see how armed conflict, particularly in an urban environment, affects the innocent, especially children. Soon after his first photos were published, he was writing articles to explain his pictures and describe what he was seeing.
Austin was honoured for his journalistic skills with the McClatchy President’s Award, a George Polk Award, and other significant recognitions.
We believe Austin is detained because of his work as a journalist.
Austin did not disappear into thin air. He was detained at a checkpoint – there are witnesses. Through these long years, we have periodically been told by reliable sources that Austin is alive and is being properly cared for. On November 13, Special Presidential Envoy Robert O’Brien emphatically stated that the United States government believes Austin Tice is alive and is being held in Syria. Additionally, we have recently been contacted directly by a number of credible individuals, who have shared information about Austin.
Earlier this year the FBI offered a reward of up to one million dollars for information that leads to Austin’s safe return. Recently, a coalition of media and other organizations in the United States announced plans to match the FBI offer.
We are appealing to anyone with information about our son to share it NOW – 6 years is much too long to keep this secret.
We are asking you, all of you, as Austin’s colleagues, to join us in continuing to raise awareness of Austin’s detention as we continue to work for his safe release. We implore you, in the course of your work – ask about Austin and create opportunities to draw attention to the urgency of securing Austin’s safe return.
As you all know, there is no way to prepare for being the parents of a captive – there is no instruction manual.
From the very first day, we have been doing everything we can think of to bring our son home. We have learned more than we ever wanted to know about how governments work – and how they do not work. We have made mistakes and missed opportunities, which we deeply regret. Nevertheless, we continue with faith and determination to see our son walk free – to hold him joyfully in our arms again.
We have met with two United States Presidents, 3 Secretaries of State and a parade of other officials. In 2014, Debra lived in Damascus for over 3 months. She returned in 2015 for two weeks; she was asking for help to find and free our son, willing to meet with anyone who was willing to listen. This year, we have spent more time in Washington, DC than ever before – pushing our government, meeting with advisors, seeking help from non-governmental organizations and individuals. We were in New York City at the opening of the General Assembly.
Now, we are here again in Beirut, hoping to go to Damascus, asking you to amplify our call for help, and meeting with officials and other contacts. We have applied for visas to Syria, so we can continue to appeal to Damascus as we have to Washington, DC that every effort be made to locate Austin and secure his safe release.
Because Austin is an American and because he is detained in Syria, we urge both the United States government and the Syrian government to work together to resolve this humanitarian issue.
No one is benefitting from Austin’s continued detention. Austin’s release will satisfy not only the longing of our family, but will also create international goodwill.
Both governments have assured us they will do all they can to secure Austin’s safe release. We call on them – now more than ever – to honor that commitment. Bring our son home.
This is the seventh holiday season of Austin’s detention. We miss him MORE, never less, with each passing day. Our family has changed and grown. We are intensely aware there is suffering all across the Levant. We still feel the pain of the empty chair at every family gathering – every event Austin has missed. We pray and hope there will soon be an end to violence, restoration of families, and the beginning of healing.
We will continue to faithfully pray and relentlessly work for Austin’s safe return.
May we soon see Austin walk free.
Thank you.
Family Statement for Beirut Press Conference
Prepared Remarks for Beirut Press Conference
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On the Release of Kevin Dawes