Frances Robles

It was so interesting.

I've been covering judicial events and press conferences and court cases and announcements for many, many years.

And I can't say I've ever seen one quite like this.

Usually these are held at either a courthouse or an office, maybe the district attorney's office or DOJ.

Sure.

So they held it at the Freedom Tower.

So that's the first thing that was really fascinating.

It's a really important historic building in Miami.

It's kind of a cool, old-looking tower.

And the reason it's an important location is because in the 1960s and the early 70s, it was the Cuban Refugee Center.

So it's basically Ellis Island for Cuban exiles.

It was the first stop for many, many thousands of people who left Cuba after the revolution and came to live in Miami.

Oh, 100 percent.

A lot of symbolism.

And not only that, this event was held today's Wednesday, May 20th, which is Cuban Independence Day.

So that, you know, symbolism squared for this event.

An event where hundreds of people came to attend.

Politicians, mayors, federal prosecutors who haven't worked there in decades.

I mean, it was a who's who of the Cuban exile community of Miami.

I was kind of struck, to be honest, that the first speaker was Madeline Pumariega, who's a Cuban-American woman, the president of Miami Dade College.