He continued: “And when he was brought back to prison he said to him, ‘I must return. “I’m still hurt and sick.” And they put him back in solitary confinement, where he spent most of the last seven months. So he’m protesting. Asked how his son was doing during the strike, Joey Reed said a lawyer was able to pass a handwritten note from Trevor Reed saying “it’s okay”. “He’s still coughing up blood. And he says he has something sticking out of his side, either rib or cartilage. And yet he’s not receiving any treatment for it other than aspirin,” said Joey Reed. Trevor Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2020 for endangering the “life and health” of Russian police officers in a brawl. Reed and his family have denied the allegations against him. This week’s hunger strike is the second the 30-year-old former US Marine has staged in recent months. Last November, he went on a six-day strike to protest his detention in Russia and the “numerous and flagrant violations” of his human rights by Russian authorities. Reed’s parents are urging President Joe Biden to work to bring him home, and on Wednesday they staged a protest outside the White House in a bid to raise awareness of their son’s case and meet with Biden. “So far we’ve been scheduled until Friday. If we need to stay longer, we can do that,” Paula Reed told Berman when asked how long she and her husband were willing to stand outside the White House. “We want to meet with the president and we want to talk to him about prisoner exchanges because obviously … asking the Russians to release these hostages did not work. It is not going to work with any superpower or nuclear power,” Joy said. Reed. Biden said Wednesday afternoon that he is making an effort to try to schedule a reunion with the Reed family soon. Asked by CNN’s Caitlin Collins if he would meet Reed’s parents while they were in town, Biden said: “I’ll see if I can see them. They’re good people. I’m not … We’re trying to solve that.” Earlier this month, the Reeds spoke by telephone with Biden, who spoke to them after a speech in Fort Worth, Texas. A White House official said at the time that the president had called on the Reeds “to reiterate their commitment to doing all they can to bring their son home, stay in touch with him through his national security team and find time to meet in person. “ But Paula Reed told reporters after the phone call that Biden told them he felt awful he could not meet them while he was in Texas, where they live, and promised that his developer would make an appointment with the family to meet with him in Washington – – a meeting that has not yet taken place. CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed to the report.
