TAMPA, Fla. — Cuban officials announced they shot and killed 4 men and injured 6 others, a revelation that quickly spread through Tampa's Cuban community.
Rene Montes de Oca is friends with both Leordan Cruz Gomez, one of the 6 injured, and Montez Ortega Casanova, one of the 4 men killed.
WATCH: Cuban government says it shot and killed 4 men, local Cuban exile mourns loss of 2 friends
Montes de Oca, a Cuban exile, says he knew both Cruz Gomez and Ortega Casanova wanted to bring freedom to Cuba, which is why he does not believe what the Cuban government is saying.
"They're always accusing people of being terrorists. It doesn't have to be because of the, you know, because they were armed. It's just, it's just that's their normalcy. Somebody that is against them is a terrorist and that's not the case," Montes de Oca said through a translator.
Montes de Oca described both men as patriots.
"All of them, specifically Michel and Leo because he knows them, but all of them that were in that group of people, they are all, patriots, and there are people that wanted liberty and wanted the freedom of the country," Montes de Oca said.
He also says that he believes the broader suffering in Cuba played a role in what happened.
"You know, everybody knows that Cuba is suffering economically, physically, mentally, spiritually, and all kinds of, you know, all kinds of ways," Montes de Oca said.
Montes de Oca told me the family of Ortega Casanova visited Casa Cuba early Thursday morning, but were too emotional and shocked to speak. Right now, he said, they just want answers.
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