FACT CHECK, the Showtime Special. PARIAH: THE LIVES AND DEATHS OF SONNY LISTON”. And see how many misleading statements they make in 90 minutes. And post them on all the major internet platforms, for all the world to see.
FACT CHECK #1
Sonny’s Prison Experience as told by SHOWTIME
“He went to the penitentiary in Jefferson. Which was a really tuff place. Time magazine called it “the bloodiest 47 Acres in America”. Gangs ruled it; there were fights all the time. Guards were afraid to patrol it. Guards were afraid to patrol some of the D blocks. Liston was brutalized early in prison. I believe that Liston had to fight for everything he got there. And I think he took a fair share of beatings”.
They sound more like fortune tellers and or mind readers; than serious investigators, historians, and journalists. They are stating that “They think” that Sonny did this. And “they feel” that Sonny did that.
FACT CHECKER
SHOWTIME misleads its audience by not giving the year of the TIME MAGAZINE ARTICLE.
The Time Magazine article came out in 1967. Sonny was one of the few model prisoners. He was sentenced to five years for robbery, starting in 1950. Later getting early parole for good behavior. Sonny was bad, compared to who? “Kate Richards O’Hare, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Carl Austin Hall, Bonnie Heady, and James Earl Ray”.
Who also spent time at Jefferson Prison. Some even serving, longer terms than Sonny. “There were three major riots, at the Missouri State Penitentiary. The most deadly, occurring in 1954”. Sonny was not there for that riot. Why? Because he was paroled in 1952.