The businessman wrote an open letter to the local newspaper informing the extortionists that he was no longer willing to pay pizzo, a Sicilian term for protection money.

[3] On 10 January 1991, Grassi wrote an open letter in the Giornale di Sicilia, a Palermo daily, that began "Dear extortionist," in which he denounced the Mafia's demands for protection money and publicly announced his refusal to pay.

[3] Grassi became something of a national hero in Italy, a Sicilian businessman who stood up to the Mafia, after appearing on nationwide TV on 11 April 1991 (at Michele Santoro's Samarcanda on Rai Tre).

Grassi stated in an interview: My colleagues have begun to attack me, saying that one should not wash dirty clothes in public.

The 67-year-old Grassi was gunned down in the Via Vittorio Alfieri in Palermo at 7:30 in the morning on 29 August 1991, less than a year after taking his stance against the Mafia.

[7] On 26 September 1991, TV hosts Santoro and Maurizio Costanzo dedicated a joint five-hour nationwide television programme to the memory of Grassi in a unique cooperation between the public Rai Tre and the private Canale 5, with the participation of anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone.

"I was terrified for their safety so, as the threats continued after Libero's killing, we reluctantly agreed to allow a state holding to run the company with Davide keeping a share," Pina recalled.

[4]Every year on 29 August, people gather at the site to commemorate the act of Grassi and protest against extortion.