Austin Tice is an American freelance journalist born in TexasHe served in the US Navy, and studied diplomatic service at Georgetown University before joining the law school at the same university. He disappeared in Syria on August 14, 2012 while covering the events of the Syrian revolution, and Washington accused the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad of responsibility for his arrest.
Birth and upbringing
Austin Bennett Tice was born on August 11, 1981 in Plano, Texas United States of America.
Tice was a former soldier in the US Marine Corps, and attained the rank of captain.
Study and scientific training
Tice attended the University of Houston, but after a year transferred to Georgetown University, where he studied diplomatic service and graduated in 2002.
He later went to study law at the same university, but during the summer vacation that preceded his final academic year, he decided to cover the events of the Syrian revolution as an independent journalist.
Journalism experience and arrest
Shortly before his graduation from Georgetown University, Tice decided in May 2012 to travel to and work as a freelance journalist to cover the Syrian revolution and the suffering of civilians for several newspapers and news agencies, including the Associated Press, McClatchy, and others.
On August 14 of the same year, Tice planned to go to Lebanon, so he took a car in the suburb of the city of Daraya, south of the Syrian capital, but he was stopped at a checkpoint.
Five weeks later, a 43-second video clip was published entitled “Austin Tice is Alive,” in which the American journalist was shown being detained by an unidentified armed group.
His family stated at the time that they had not received any information about him, the identity of his captors, or any demands for his release, but they believed that he was still alive.
The United States announced a reward of one million dollars for anyone who provides information about his whereabouts.
Years after his disappearance, the former US President met – before leaving office – with Tice’s father and mother.
In August 2020, the president expressed his solidarity with Tice’s family, saying, “We stand with the family, and we will not rest until we bring him home.”
For his part, the US President made commitments to the family to support efforts to search for and recover Tice, and met with the family several times during his term. Biden said – in a press statement – that his country is certain that “Tice is being held by the Syrian regime.”
In a statement marking the 12th anniversary of Tice’s disappearance, the US State Department accused the regime of detaining him, and said that it had repeatedly offered cooperation to find a solution to return him to his country, but the Assad regime denied detaining him.
The US State Department called on the former regime to cooperate with it to end his detention and provide clarification regarding the fate of other Americans missing in Syria.
After the Syrian opposition was able to overthrow the Syrian regime on December 8, 2024 and empty the prisons of detainees, news circulated that Austin had been found, but it later turned out that the detainee they found was American journalist Travis Timmerman, who was born in Missouri.
Awards and honors
- George Polk Award in War Reporting in 2012.
- McClatchy News Chairman’s Award in 2012.
- Press Freedom Award from the National Press Club in 2015.
- Conscience in Media Award in 2015 from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
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