Mark Wahlberg Wants a Pardon for Blinding That Vietnamese Guy

Remember in 1988 when Mark Wahlberg was 16? He knocked a middle-aged Vietnamese man unconscious with a large stick and called him “Vietnam fucking s**t.” Later that day while trying to steal two cases of alcohol, he hit another middle-aged Vietnamese guy with a stick so hard he blinded him in one eye.

When he was brought to the scene on the first charge, Wahlberg told cops, “You don’t have to let him identify me, I’ll tell you now that’s the motherfucker whose head I split open.” He also made remarks about “gooks” and “slant-eyed gooks” during police proceedings.

Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder, plead guilty and spent 45 days in jail.

In a 2006 interview with ABC News, Wahlberg said he never tried to find the man to apologize. Mostly because he doesn’t feel guilty about it.

You have to go and ask for forgiveness and it wasn’t until I really started doing good and doing right by other people, as well as myself, that I really started to feel that guilt go away. So I don’t have a problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning.

On the other hand, he did say he once thought about finding the guy but that seems like a lot of work so he didn’t.

Anyway, Mark Wahlberg wants a pardon for that 1988 assault. He’s asking for it now because the conviction would prevent him from being active in law enforcement activities such as helping “at-risk individuals.” He also wants “formal recognition that I am not the same person I was on the night of 8 April 1988 … My hope is that, if I receive a pardon, troubled youths will see this as an inspiration and motivation that they too can turn their lives around and be formally accepted into society.” He makes no mention of the racist remarks.

In an application to the state of Massachusetts, Wahlberg says he hasn’t been doing charity work to make people forget about his past. He wants people to remember it to serve as an example.

“From later accounts of the incident, it is my understanding I may have caused serious injuries.”

Wahlberg, who spent 45 days in prison, says in his plea for clemency that he has turned his life around “through faith, hard work and guidance from some incredible mentors”, attending church almost every day. He refers to the charitable foundation he set up in 2001, which he says has raised about $9.6m (£6.1m), adding: “I have not engaged in philanthropic efforts in order to make people forget about my past. To the contrary, I want people to remember my past so that I can serve as an example of how lives can be turned around and how people can be redeemed.”

To this day, millionaire actor Mark Wahlberg has still not tried to make amends with the Vietnamese shopkeeper he blinded. Why would he? His conscience is clear.