He could no longer bear his life after a female agent from the municipality had slapped him in front of the general public, confiscated his weighing scale, and tossed aside his fruit and vegetables cart.
Deciding to protest in an untraditional way, he set himself ablaze in front of the municipality, which refused to hear his complaint. He poured gasoline on himself and he set himself ablaze in protest against unemployment, oppression, poverty, and injustice. The Tunisian President Zein al-Abedein Ben Ali visited him in the hospital although the now dying man could see nothing but medical gauze.
Ironically, the Tunisian President did not know that the death of Muhamed Bu Azizi would trigger the anger stirring up a revolution that ends his 23-year reign. Despite having graduated from university, Muhamad Bouazizi was an roving greengrocer who searched for a job for several years before selling groceries from his cart.
He was assaulted by police and his cart was seized by authorities claiming that he did not have license to make such sales. He complained to authorities but his complaint was refused and he was prevented from meeting officials. He responded by ending his life. Leaving a letter to his mother, he told her that he was fed up and that he could no longer afford living. He asked her to forgive him. When Ben Ali visited Bu Zeid in the hospital, he wanted to tell his people that he sympathized with them and feels their pain and suffering. But it seems that this could not fool the angry masses as Sidi Bu Zeid demonstrations turned into massive protests in the rest of Tunisia's cities.
This time, protestors went beyond their typical social and economic demands; they demanded Ben Ali's departure. Demonstrators wrote on banners, "We prefer to live on bread and water rather than live under [president] Ben Ali” before the president, who ruled Tunisia for 23 years and became a symbol for tyranny and despotism, lost control of the protestors and left Tunisia.
