(WBAP/KLIF) – After protesting in Washington, D.C. all day, Paula and Joey Reed finally got to meet with President Joe Biden. Their son Trevor has been in a Russian jail for more than two and a half years, and they’ve since been working with the Biden administration to bring him back home safely. Earlier in March, Trevor Reed’s parents stood outside a VA hospital in Fort Worth while the President was visiting in an attempt to get his attention. It was then that they received a phone call from President Biden, promising to schedule a time where they could meet in private to discuss freeing their son.
“Our hopes were raised when he called us in Fort Worth,” Joey Reed said. “We were a little concerned when we hadn’t heard from anyone at the White House, but today after meeting with him, it was exactly what we expected.”
Paula and Joey Reed got the attention of the Biden administration after spending all day in front of the White House protesting. President Biden was asked about the Reeds after getting a COVID-19 booster shot today, in which he responded, “I’m going to see if I can get to meet with them.”
The Reeds’ met with the President later on that evening, and were pleased with the outcome.
“We were not rushed. We got to say everything we wanted to say,” Paula Reed said. “We got to tell him a little bit more about Trevor than what was already out there. He listened to us and he was very compassionate and kind. We felt heard.”
The Reeds’ meeting with President Biden has them feeling very optimistic they could see their son again in the near future, even if it might take longer than expected.
“He said don’t get your hopes up, but at the same time, we did after talking with him,” Joey Reed said.
Trevor Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019 while visiting Russia. His parents believe the charges against him are entirely political, and that his health is being neglected while he remains in jail. Trevor was placed in a cell with a prisoner who had tuberculosis — now his parents think he might have caught the disease himself. Trevor also suffered a broken rib, which has hardly been attended to, according to his parents.
“They sent him back to his prison without any treatment,” Joey Reed said. “Then they took an X-ray that was wrong…They put him in solitary confinement again which is against all Russian laws to put a sick person in solitary confinement.”
Trevor Reed has also gone on a hunger strike twice now in protest against his poor treatment by Russian authorities.
While Trevor Reed and his family has endured almost three grueling, anxious years, they’re not losing hope — and they don’t want the public to either.
“Keep writing to the White House and say ‘Bring Americans home,'” Joey Reed said. “If the President were to get 10,000 emails a day, it might be a bigger priority for the administration.”