Update:
The family of executed journalist James Foley has spoken about his brave and compassionate nature.
His mother, Diane Foley, said outside her family home in New Hampshire: “Jim was very loved, very proud to be a journalist.”
“He had such courage… He had incredible heart, and he always cared about people who were suffering,” she said, according to New York Daily News.
“He felt compelled to bear witness to people in conflict,” she said. “He died for that compassion and love.”
Confirming that President Obama had called the family home to offer his condolences, Ms Foley said she had urged the President to spare hostages including Time Magazine journalist Steven Sotloff, from her son’s fate.
Previously, Mamamia wrote:
This morning, horrifying footage of a brave man’s murder was released to the world.
It was video of ISIS militants beheading American journalist James Foley Wright.
That, and photographs of the brutal murder, were uploaded to Twitter in what was reportedly a “message” to US President Barack Obama about their intervention in Iraq.
Wright Foley was a freelance journalist and experienced war reporter who was kidnapped in Syria in November 2012. This was the first the world had seen of him in a long time.
You may have seen photos of James Wright Foley on his knees in the dirt wearing an orange jumpsuit, with a black-clad figure standing next to him.
Horrified, we have all fixated on the moment this brave man was violently killed.
But James’ family would like us all to stop. They’ve made a courageous statement asking us all to remember their ‘Jim’ as he was alive, not in his final moments.