On May 23, 1992, in Capaci along Sicily’s autostrada between the Punta Raisi airport and Palermo, a half-ton of explosives was detonated under the highway, killing anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo, and his police detail including Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro, and Vito Schifani.

The blast, which registered on earthquake monitors, was the masterwork of the Sicilian mafia. Falcone was targeted because of his life’s work: arresting, holding accountable, and imprisoning those involved in the plague of organized corruption that had crippled Sicily for decades. Falcone and his fellow prosecutor, Paolo Borsellino, were super heroes, having risked (and subsequently sacrificed) their lives for the greater good. The calculated murder of both of these men (Borsellino sadly, soon after, in July 1992) prompted a tremor through the hearts of Sicilians. This magnanimous event marked one of the incidents that inspired a grassroots effort to stop the disease of the Sicilian Mafia. An effort that was started by two brave men, and now, continues through the fortitude of the millions of Sicilians who they inspired.