Thousands of people took part in a rally in the southern Italian city of Locri - a stronghold of the notorious `Ndrangheta mafia - to remember innocent victims of the crime syndicate.

Ahead of the protest, graffiti sprayed in the town labelled anti-mafia priest Don Luigi Ciotti a "cop" in what was seen as a threat.

But Father Ciotti told an estimated crowd of 25,000 people: "Today in Locri we are all cops."