The parents and siblings of Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who died last year after being released from a North Korean prison, attended President Trump’s first State of the Union address Tuesday evening as special guests.
“You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world and your strength truly inspires us all,” Trump told the family. “Thank you very much.”
“Tonight, we pledge to honor Otto’s memory with total American resolve,” Trump added to applause.
Warmbier was traveling in North Korea when he was accused of trying to steal a propaganda poster and as a result, was sentenced in March 2016 to hard labor after a trial.
The Trump administration secured his release in June 2017, but he returned home in a coma and died days later. Doctors determined that he had major loss of tissue in all areas of his brain.
North Korea is being sued by the family for wrongful death.
