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Mark Wahlberg says he deserves a pardon for beating two Vietnamese men on Dot. Ave. back in the day

NECN reports the OFD actor thinks his lifetime of good works, church going and acknowledging the savage, racist beatings that left one of his victims blind in one eye are reason enough for a pardon. Also, wiping the criminal conviction off his record would help him get the "concessionaire's license" that would help him with his hamburger business.

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They better be pardoning EVERYONE with non-violent convictions first.

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If a person has been properly tried and convicted of a crime, let's not even consider pardoning them at all. This policy of "innocent after proven guilty" is a needless farce.

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Season's Greetings, Roadman. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions regarding a multitude of subjects; however, what about those who have been batteling an incessant battle with mental challenges (which initially contributed to the commission of their crimes: unbeknown to them) and they have counter acted those adversities with the will power to transform from a misfit/rebel mentality to one which consists of a more professional dynamic; a person who has excelled through college and in life in general since the age of twenty five since he or she was first diagnosed with their condition, a person who has learned to accept responsibility for his/her actions and make ammends for any wrong doings, a person who has received extensive counseling services, a person who knows (now) how to walk away from situations, a person who has transitioned from fist-fighting every day or every other day to a person who has the courage, strength, will power, perserverance (in the face of obstacles and challenges), strong keen mental fortitude, religious faith, goals, initiative, and over all positive mind frame and demeanor to aid in conquering life's incessant battles? How about those who once used to be considered throw away citizens of society who want to turn around and contribute/redistribute emphatic compassion back into the very society that initially rejected he/she? Roadman, I am that person, and I am no longer ashamed to say that I've traveled down a dark path in the past---but that's exactly my point. It's the past, and in 2015 and for the rest of this year, it's definitely not going to become a part of my future. I am currently attending various courses at my college in the Psychology/Sociology field to assist those who may need a second--or possibly even a third, fourth or fifth chance like I've had. I want to prove to society that I am a good-hearted, good-natured, compassionate, funny, loving, altruistic individual who is most definitely interested in improving the lives of others. I also want to reduce the stigma that is associated with such of the utter discrimination and hatred that is presently portrayed in the media; which loves to amplify things regarding other scares, such as ebola (lol) or how they love to throw in the fact that someone had "mental challenges". Nothing infuriates me more than someone juding others and making random assumptions about that person or a group of people, absent of thinking outside of the box and remaining so close-minded. I'm not specifying or implicating you, but just society in general. This is why you have those individuals who feel rejected by society going out there and going insane committing mass murder---they simply had no one who cared or had a heart for them. Well, in a nutshell I want to be that person who reaches someone who may be struggling with challenges and may be feeling judged by society ( I still feel judged on a regular basis myself but that is their problem. I have learned how to deflect all of that negativity and foccus on what I really wish to do, and that is to exemplify characteristics of altruism and empathy. Please consider that when you try to examine or prematurely cast judgement on an individual, for you may possibly have not traveled down a similar path, nor have you walked in their shoes. The later is more essential.

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East Boston waterfront should have a Whalburgers, loads of high end residential & retail going on at Eastie's Waterfront, it will be hard for Marky Mark to pass up.

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I've enjoyed Mark Wahlberg's movies, and kudos to him for being someone who truly did turn his life around, both personally and in terms of how he relates to the society he lives in.

However, one guy was permanently blinded in one eye. I don't see forgiving that too easily. In fact, if they did pardon him for it, I think a lot of people, myself included, would wonder whether he got pardoned because of his celebrity status.

That said, why is a decades-old felony conviction a bar to getting a license to run a hamburger stand? I think that's the real problem here.

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Your points are good points that're well taken, BikerGeek. No matter what Mark Walberg's status is as a celebrity, he should not be pardoned for having assaulted a person with no provocation and left him permanently blinded in one eye. The idea of pardoning Mark Walberg for that crime is really disgusting and should be tossed out by the wayside.

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Some time ago The Smoking Gun website posted a partial copy of the sentencing memorandum for an assault where MW punched someone in the eye. The memo recommended 90 days with two years probation. If MW had actually blinded someone or caused someone to lose an eye it seems likely that the memo would have mentioned that fact, and that a longer sentence would have been recommended. Is there some reliable documentation out there that MW blinded someone, or is that an urban legend? I don't know either way.

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http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=mark+wahlberg+blinded+vietnamese

Presumably it wasn't mentioned in the sentencing memo because Wahlberg is white and his victim isn't.

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1) That something appears on lots of random web sites does not mean that it is necessarily true. See snopes.com.

2) The sentencing memo expressly calls out 16-year-old MW for using racist slurs. It is not credible that the memo deliberately omitted that the Asian victim was blinded in the attack because the memo's author is a racist.

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... that MW did not blind one of his Vietnamese victims? ,,,that this is only an "urban legend"?

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I'm just saying that I don't know one way or the other, and it would be helpful to see something that reliably establishes what happened. I'm not asking for the victim's medical records; a Globe article about the attack would be enough.

Given MW's prominence, you would think that some journalist would have done an interview with the person who was maimed by MW for life, but I don't see it out there. (One site that I found online presents a fictitious interview with that person, but that is expressly identified as satirical.) Which is not to say that it didn't happen, but it's just weird.

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"Quite the contrary" means "the opposite of that." The opposite of saying you believe it didn't happen is that you believe it did. You seem to be doubting it happened until it is proven to you.

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He's claiming noyhing, which is the opposite of claiming something.

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I saw a news interview with him a few years back where he himself talked in detail about this and said that he caused a man to be blind in one eye.

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I would assume that having a conviction makes getting a liquor license makes a bit of a hassle.

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Maybe a hot dog stand would be easier to get a license for . Really , this sounds like bullshit. There are all lawyer machinations to get around hamburg stand licensing regulations. Dismissed , next case !

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with a banana stand.

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Was that the Golden Banana that they owned ?

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There's always money in a banana stand [winks]

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torched for the insurance!

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You mean he has to clear his record , in order to open up 27 Whalburger stores in Boston area, 1) Who the hell eats hamburgers these days? That sh!t is so bad for you.
2) Will he be opening one up in downtown crossing, Millenium tower Bostons address for billionairs .

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There are plans for two new Wahlburgers in the Boston area. One will be in Lynnfield. The other will be over near Fenway.

There will be seven in New York and 20 in Florida

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They're as American as Apple Pie, if one gets the drift!

The Dolphin, a great seafood restaurant right outside Cambridge's Harvard Square, on Mass. Ave recently closed after many years in business, and what's coming in it's place? Boston Burger, that's who!

There are enough hamburger joints around. We didn't need another one.

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2 new locations in the Boston area.

A bit more unscale than Five Guys (sprouting like weeds nationwide) and less hyped that Shake Shack (coming soon to Legacy Place.)

So, yeah, people still eat hamburgers.

How's the monastic life going for you?

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What's he done for his victim?

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Joe Kennedy can help, I'm sure.

You know Joe. The guy who got his long-time marriage "annulled."

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You people with Kennedy fixation syndrome really need to seek help.

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of both Mary Jo Kopechne & Martha Moxley would beg to differ!

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It was not a kennedy who killed that poor moxley girl, dumb-dumb. Skakel is Ethel's nephew.

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No! Obvious partiality to someone due to a family name is nothing to let go. My goodness, with all the cries of injustice going on currently, why should we put up with people getting away with murder/manslaughter, rape (underage) and much more because they are a Kennedy?

(In my family the older generation worshipped the Kennedy's, that is until they saw Joe accepting communion at Rose Kennedy's funeral before his annulment came through. Then all bets were off!)

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Because, as a secular citizen, that's all that legally matters.

Divorce IS legal, BTW.

Or should we just say that Kennedy's legal relationships and marital status, absent any actual lawbreaking, are not any of my or your goddamn business?

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Joe K II did try to annul his first marriage so he could marry his second chickadee in the Catholic Church. His ex-wife fought it all the way to Rome and won. One of her main objections is that it would have made her children illegitimate.

So Joe had to settle for a divorce and no remarriage in the Church.

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What Wahlberg did was illegal.

Kennedy's annulment in the church? A matter of faith, not a matter of law. In the eyes of the law, divorce is a legal matter. Annulment for religious purposes is not.

In other words, not anything near a similar issue.

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I disagree with your comment:"would have made her children illegitimate". It is a popular and offensive misconception.
If you want to know the facts: http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/.

Please don't use that lame line in the future.
thanks.

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of your comment to initial post.

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He was comparing an annulment by the church concerning a famous person to the discussion of pardoning a famous someone for a violent hate crime.

One is a religious matter of concern to those in that faith, but of no concern in a civil context. The other is a secular legal matter.

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I think pardons should be reserved for people who have not only shown remorse and tried to make amends, but whose lives are severely constrained by having the conviction on their record. Wahlberg is famous & successful, and there are tons of businesses he could go into where the conviction would not be any impediment. I'm glad if he's reformed himself, but it really would send the wrong message if he were pardoned.

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Not only was he a violent criminal but a proud racist too. And even today, all he can say about the victim is he "understands he may have caused serious injury". Violent crimes should have consequences, and one of them is that apparently he cant get a liquor license. Too bad
The Smoking Gun not only details this and other alleged Wahlberg crimes, but also links to the original sentencing document.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/Mark-Wahlberg-pardon-petition-876321

Maybe he has turned his life around but where is the concern about the victim? Has he given any of his millions to the victim? Is he still a hateful racist?

I am not impressed at all by his charitable donations, as he has tons of money. I am certainly not impressed by his statement that he goes to church. What does that have to do with anything?

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I don't know anything about marky mark, but I do believe that a lot of hateful racist homophobes don't actually change their hateful racist homophobe stance, they just get better at hiding it, which is probably really helpful when you've got millions of $ and a giant publicity machine behind you.

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past to promote his career. Now that he is in business ventures outside the entertainment industry he finds out that felonies are not helpful when trying to obtain business licenses, insurance and all sorts of other bureaucratic nonsense. It's about the money not his humility. A real tough guy would accept an eye for an eye Marky Mark.

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If he had lost sight in one eye how would that have impacted his career?

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What does not being able to see have to do with not being able to rap or act?

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air making a whooshing sound? If so don't look up.

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Mayhaps thou hast misseth mine joke.

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good vibration.

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If you are a JD with a felony, you clearly fucked up and even if you do well, guess what.
You fucked up and have to live with the MINIMAL consequences in this case.
How about an eye-for-an-eye and THEN he gets his Likkah License?

Walpurgis Night flame-broiled burgers?

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Is now a good time for a white guy to be pardoned for a hate crime? Or ever?

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??

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"

Wahlberg concluded. "It would be formal recognition that someone like me can receive official public redemption if he devotes himself to personal improvement and a life of good works."

That's purgery to me and anyone who saw "Max Payne" or "Pain and Gain"

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"The Happening" is perhaps the worst movie I've ever seen, and that's saying quite a bit.

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No he f***ing does not. No, no, NO.

I did go to Wahlburger's once and the TVs just had clips of his movies playing over and over again. He is truly an egomaniac.

I also unearthed a copy this utterly crap movie starring Donnie Wahlburg at a thrift store not too long ago:

tagline: The TOUGHEST Neighborhood in America

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Are not words I would ever think I'd write on this board.

However, the movie had it's upside. I like to think of it as "Good Will Hunting", except that nothing good ever happens. Also, wrong Wahlberg. Donnie shouldn't be punished for Marky's crimes any more than Marky should be punished for Donnie's poor acting career. Besides, you've got Steve Sweeney and a young Canadian actor, Will Arnet getting to know Boston.

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Ha, that's the movie's tag line! I recall Southie being a bit rough (my aunt & grandma lived there from the late 80s - 90s) but far from the toughest place in America. I thought it was a pretty funny tag line. Marky Mark was originally offered the lead role, but Donnie ended up taking the part because Mark required too much money. Poor Donnie. Forever a discount Mark Wahlberg.

Part of the whole Wahlburgers/Alma Nova schtik that it's a family business (there was a whole spiel on the Wahlburgers menu about it). I doubt with all those siblings those restaurants really need Mark to be pardoned of hate crimes so he can get a concessionaire's license, they both seem to be doing alright.

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You'll have to live with this one in perpetuity. You have achieved fame and fortune despite your turbulent and violent past. However, you forever changed the lives of innocent people through your acts of brutal violence. This will not go away. Oh, and don't try to sell us all on the notion that you've atoned for your actions. This is a move to help your business, period.

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I don't see a racist connection here, at least in the linked story.

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Yeah, because NECN whitewashed it. He beat two vietnamese men with a two by four, blinding one of them, all the while screaming racial epithets.

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Boston.com, of all places, has the stuff:

A Suffolk Superior Court sentencing memorandum states that Wahlberg shouted racial slurs at two Vietnamese men multiple times during the incident. Wahlberg acknowledges this in his application. While he states that “the trial judge found me guilty of these two criminal contempt counts,” the memorandum states that he pled guilty to the two counts.

The contempt charges were for violating an injunction he earned for racist attacks on black schoolchildren and their teacher. Not a nice guy.

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You are good at not seeing racism:
When Wahlberg approached the man carrying the alcohol, he called him a “Vietnam f—ing s—,” hit him in the head, and then knocked him unconscious onto the ground. After he was placed under arrest, Wahlberg made multiple unsolicited statements about “gooks” and “slant-eyed gooks.” He identified the first victim as the person he struck, and said something to the effect of, “You don’t have to let him identify me, I’ll tell you now that’s the motherf— [whose] head I split open.”
http://www.boston.com/entertainment/celebrity/2014/12/04/mark-wahlberg-a...

Previous to that he had been arrested for racially harassing a group of black schoolchildren and their teacher.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/back-day-marky-marks-rap-sheet-0?page=4

He has a rap sheet that shows a pattern of racism and violence, the fact that he owns a hamburger chain doesn't mean he is any different now, just richer.

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I'm surprised the local media (NECN, My Fox Boston et al) have not found the victim and interviewed him on TV to try and find out his thoughts on whether Marky should get a pardon or not. I don't think he should. I mean, he blinded some old Vietnamese dude for being an old Vietnamese dude, right? And didn't he also throw a bottle at a bunch of little black kids for being a bunch of little black kids, right? That's the version I heard. If that's the case, no way in hell should he get a pardon. Maybe I got it wrong? I mean, I liked Ted and Planet of the Apes just as much as anybody, but he did some serious, vile shit (way more serious then getting caught with an 8th of pot) when he was a kid. People need to know that actions have consequences. To give him a pardon would be a horrible precedent to set and a bad example for kids who may be contemplating riding into a successful career as a rapper/underwear model/movie star on the coattails of a small time criminal past. Think of the children, for Chrissakes!

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There seems to be something here but it won't load for me today:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/wayne-wax/2014/05/an-interview-with-the-asian-...

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... is made up (the facts about the attack are not).

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Ah, hell no.

Unless, that is, his victims support the pardon.

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I think it makes more of statement, on is part, to keep the same on his record and to talk about his violent past, including blinding a human being, and how he has been redeemed.

I think there might be more of a reason he wants it off his record than he is letting on. For example: He just wants it off his record.

He apparently had no trouble opening his initial restaurant with the charges on his record so...

I also hear his hamburgers are crap.

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No pardon.

He never even has pretended to try to find his victims to make amends -- he _thought_ about it -- but decided he could forgive himself without going through the bother.

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This is what I would like to know. Did he ever apologize directly and sincerely to the victims and try to make amends? There are at least two Vietnamese men (one who he blinded in one eye), and a group of African American school children and their teachers (one child was reportedly injured badly) who were his victims if not others as well. I would think he would seek each out to apologize and make some type of restitution to them before trying to get a pardon. Perhaps he has done so but no new stories mention this so I assume he probably has not.

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When the Governor pardons Sacco & Vanzetti then he might take a look at this vicious, racist thug's request.

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See this article. The victim was not blinded by Mark W. It was caused by a previous war injury.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2868589/Mark-Wahlberg-s-blinding...

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