UPDATED: One of Mark Wahlberg’s victims thinks he should be pardoned, at least
Mark Wahlberg’s latest bid to change the mistakes of the past—in this case, the mistakes made by Mark Wahlberg, when he was just a violent, racist teenager running rampant on the streets of Boston—has been met with greater stumbling blocks than the usual realities of linear time. His request to be pardoned for the 1988 assault of two Vietnamese men has been greeted with serious public derision, and held up as some unfortunately timely evidence of the way privilege can excuse even the harshest of crimes, when others get killed for, say, selling loose cigarettes while not starring in major movie franchises. The fact that Wahlberg wants his past excused so he can open more Wahlburgers chains and play at being a police officer has only added to that outrage.
But Wahlberg should get his pardon, according to one unexpected source: The Daily Mail tracked down Johnny Trinh, one of two men Wahlberg brutally attacked that night, who now says that Wahlberg should be absolved—and added that, contrary to numerous press reports since the incident, it wasn’t Wahlberg’s assault that left him partially blind. “He did hurt me, but my left eye was already gone. He was not responsible for that,” Trinh says, explaining that he had already lost his eye to a piece of shrapnel while fighting with anti-communist forces in the Vietnam War, with Wahlberg actually punching him in the glass eye that had replaced it.
Trinh also says he had no idea his assailant had since become famous actor Mark Wahlberg—but regardless of who he is, Trinh says he’s already paid for his crime with his 45 days in prison. “He was young and reckless but I forgive him now,” Trinh says. “Everyone deserves another chance. I would like to see him get a pardon. He should not have the crime hanging over him any longer.”
While it remains to be seen whether the state of Massachusetts agrees that the famous multimillionaire model, musician, actor, producer, and entrepreneur should at long last be given a break—allowing him to also obtain a concessionaire license for his restaurants, or be handed a gun as a reserve officer with the LAPD—Trinh can at least take solace in knowing that his wish has already been granted, as Wahlberg long ago forgave himself.