WASHINGTON D.C., DC — The North Texas couple who has been advocating for their son’s release from a Russian prison finally got the meeting they’ve been asking for.
On Wednesday, March 31, President Joe Biden met with Joey and Paula Reed, the parents of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed.
The Reeds first encountered the president during his visit to Fort Worth earlier this month. Side by side, they held up signs as the president’s motorcade drove past. Later that day, the president gave them a phone call.
Three weeks passed, and their hopes for a meeting with the president dwindled, but they didn't give up.
On Wednesday, March 31, Reed’s parents demonstrated outside the White House and protested. Then it happened: a 40-minute face-to-face meeting with the president.
“We were surprised,” Joey Reed said. “We were just hoping to get a meeting scheduled, so when they called and said 'Can you come over in an hour?', we were very excited.”
The Reeds told WFAA that they felt cautiously optimistic after their meeting with the president.
“He was very gracious, very compassionate, everything we thought that he would be… he was,” Paula Reed said.
“He was very conservative and not making any promises, and he just said that ‘We’re working, don’t get your hopes up too high,’ but other than that, we really can’t discuss anything. He allowed us to talk about everything we wanted to discuss,” Joey Reed said.
The Reeds said they were satisfied with how the meeting went.
“The president heard what we were saying,” Joey Reed said. “We said we’re sorry that we’ve had to blitz the media to get this meeting finalized, and he said, ‘Don’t ever apologize for that.’ Him and the secretary of state and everyone in the government all told us that they would do the exact same thing that we’re doing if it was their child.”
On Thursday, March 31, the Reeds met with lawmakers, including Rep. August Pfluger and Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas. Then, they met with several members of the U.S. Department of State.
“We just need to get him home,” Paula said.
Trevor Reed was detained in Russia in 2019. He faces a nine-year prison sentence after getting into an alleged altercation with Russian police officers. Reed has denied those charges.
The Reeds told WFAA their son’s health is deteriorating while imprisoned. According to his parents, Trevor Reed is in solitary confinement, may have tuberculosis, is coughing blood daily and may have a broken rib.
His parents said Trevor Reed went on a hunger strike on Monday, March 28. On Thursday, March 31, his father said they want a prisoner swap in exchange for their son. Reed's family confirmed to ABC News on April 4 that he'd been moved once again to the prison colony's medical facility, but warn he's never received meaningful medical care there. They also said Reed had lost seven pounds in five days after his hunger strike started.
“Whatever they need to do to bring him home and Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” Joey Reed said.
With emotion, the Reeds shared a message for their son:
“Stay tough. Stay strong. Hang in there just a little bit longer. We’re doing everything we possibly can to bring him home,” Paula Reed said.
“We love you, and we’ve talked to just about everybody we can talk to. We’ve talked to the boss now. So, it’s up to our government now to make it happen,” Joey Reed said.
They're not giving up the fight until their son makes it home.
Here is the full statement from the Reed family released on April 4:
“Trevor has been transferred back to a prison ‘hospital’ at the IK-21 gulag in Mordovia. Our son continues to experience symptoms consistent with active tuberculosis. As a result of his hunger strike, Trevor lost seven pounds in five days, his health continues to deteriorate by the day, and we remain terrified that Trevor will become the next Otto Warmbier if the Administration doesn’t act urgently to bring him home. Recently, we consulted with Dr. Richard E. Waldhorn, Clinical Professor of Medicine at Georgetown and a pulmonary specialist who advised us that untreated tuberculosis has a mortality rate as high as 70%. When we dropped our then 28-year-old off at the airport before he left for Russia, he was in excellent health and weighed about 160 pounds. Recently, at the prison ‘hospital’ he weighed 136 pounds. We worry every day that Trevor will become the next Otto Warmbier, and even if he doesn’t, that he will come home with lifelong consequences from Russian authorities’ inattention to his symptoms and their refusal to provide any meaningful medical care. We urge the Administration to act with urgency. Our son is out of time.”