The U.S. House of Representatives is calling for Russia to release former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, a north Texas native, from prison.
“Today, the House passed #HRes186 calling on Russia to immediately release Texan @USMC Veteran @freetrevorreed,” U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) tweeted. “I am proud to have co-sponsored this resolution to show Russia we will not accept the unjust detention of Americans like Trevor Reed for political purposes.”
Reed was traveling in Russia with his girlfriend in 2019, the Texas Tribune reported. After drinking heavily, police took him to jail to sober up, the story said. He was charged with assault and sentenced to nine years in prison after officials discovered he was an ex-Marine, the Tribune said.
“He’s being held as a pawn to try and leverage concessions in a political dispute between our two countries in which he has no part, and it’s time to let him come home to Texas,” his parents, Paula and Joey Reed, wrote in a statement obtained first by CNN, CBSDFW reported.
He recently contracted COVID-19 while in prison, the station reported.
“Throughout his captivity, Russian authorities have gone out of their way not to provide Trevor with basic health care and given that, the news about Trevor having pain in his lungs has us terribly worried,” his parents wrote.
They believe their son was targeted because of assignments during his military career including included protecting then-Vice President Joe Biden at Camp David, the station reported.
“For the last three weeks, we have respectfully asked the Russian government to allow Trevor to call us and allow the embassy to visit him to no avail, and we’d like to ask President Putin to let us speak to Trevor, restore his access to send and receive letters and for authorities to be completely transparent about whatever minimal care they provided him,” the parents wrote in their statement.