The morning after the letter was published, the Mayor of Palermo, the prosecutor, the colonel of the federal police, and the press showed up at his factory to show support. However, even after he got police protection, two strangers appeared who claimed to be health inspectors and threatened the workers once they were inside. Grassi became something of a national hero in Italy, a Sicilian businessman who stood up to the Mafia, after appearing on nationwide TV on April 11, 1991 (at Michele Santoro's "Samarcanda" on Rai Tre).