# I just learned that Mark Wahlberg assaulted an Asian person in a hate crime as a youth. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326 "2013-02-04T18:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/41 "2013-02-05T12:53:47Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > Who fuckin’ died and made **you** God? Why don’t you support youth in asia? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/42 "2013-02-05T14:58:57Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Well, obviously brutally beating up two people is worse than casual trolling… one is debateable :eek: Don’t accuse other posters of trolling. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/43 "2013-02-05T17:01:56Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I’ve never blinded anyone. (Have you?) Well, if radiant beauty counts as a cause for blindness, I plead guilty! However, I’m in accord that he may not have done the right thing. Who can judge? He may have been overly punished at the hands of the state, and he believes that the societal hammer levels it all out. Also, any further contact with the victim may lead to some new kind of civil or legal griefs for him. I fully believe that the quotes are legitimate, but, in what context? How much was taken out? And, while he was a POS back then, it may have been the drugs, not sociopathy, that was responsible. And, the blinding of the victim, as in any vicious attack, may not have been premeditated. Let’s be real, if anybody has been in a fight, particularly with a weapon, losing an eye may just be the norm, and everybody who doesn’t lose one is the lucky one. Whole point on the blinding, MM may not have said “I’m gonna blind this gook!” Just being a vicious drug addict, whose vicious attack went further awry than he thought. I am not defending what he was, but, I think we should not go out of our way to demonize a person whose life has changed a lot, for the better, already. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/44 "2013-02-05T17:05:57Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Umm…no. I have never ever beat someone so bad it cost them an eye. I’ve been in fights when I was younger, and never even CONSIDERED hurting someone that badly. I don’t know if anybody ever says “I’m going to put out his/her eye.” A fight is a fight, and nobody considers hurting anybody ‘that badly.’ (Not as the norm, that is.) Can’t address your situation, but, I bet most people on this board have had fights in which somebody \*could \*have lost an eye. In MM’s case, it just went bad. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/45 "2013-02-05T17:12:01Z")
Granting your general point, Wahlberg didn’t get into a fight. He attacked one man unprovoked on the street, and then as he was running away from the scene, he attacked another guy and punched him in the face. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/46 "2013-02-05T17:31:32Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Is possession of a weapon under the controlled circumstances of a shooting range or movie set “possession” in the sense that any but the biggest dick with a badge would make an issue of it? At a party, a guy I know who has a felony conviction became very nervous when a handgun was being passed around. The homeowner had gotten a new toy and was showing it off. Because my friend (the felon) didn’t know everyone there, he left, rather than risk a “gotcha”. And Marky is a better singer than actor. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/47 "2013-02-05T19:43:38Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I bet most people on this board have had fights in which somebody \*could \*have lost an eye. I \*\*very \*\*much doubt that. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/48 "2013-02-05T19:50:28Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > And by “Yes”, I mean Yes, it’s illegal. Sorry. Reading is hard. The link was a useful datum. I fail to see the point of the snark. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/49 "2013-02-05T19:52:58Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > What do you mean Matt Damon is a great guy? He once woke up in a hotel room in Bangkok with a dead hooker and had to call Ben Affleck for help. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Ben woke up with a dead hooker in his room and called Matt: > > [Ben Affleck and a Dead Hooker? Wha? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247218) Ah, a 10-82. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/50 "2013-02-05T21:10:19Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > To be fair, he was supposed to be on one of those flights but missed his flight. So he at least had reason to put himself in that scenario. Yeah, that makes it _worse_ in my opinion. That situation should inspire gratefulness for being alive, an appreciation for the fragility and tenuousness of what we have, a realization that we can never perfectly protect that which we love, “there but for the grace of X,” etc. His response was, “Pfft. I coulda took 'em.” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/51 "2013-02-05T21:13:10Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Can’t address your situation, but, I bet most people on this board have had fights in which somebody \*could \*have lost an eye. On the other hand, I’d bet most people have never been in physical fight ever, including most people on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/52 "2013-02-05T21:54:28Z")
I am the least likely person ever to ever have been in fights and I’ve been in fights. As a kid. And I never, ever, came close to putting anybody’s eye out. That’s just craziness. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/53 "2013-02-05T21:59:29Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Don’t accuse other posters of trolling. I wasn’t, I was clearly making an joke, I don’t really consider GBH less serious. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/54 "2013-02-05T22:01:40Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > . > > His response was, “Pfft. I coulda took 'em.” Hey, he took down one of those Hakazu guys as a teenager…the asian mafia…whoever those guys are. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/55 "2013-02-05T22:44:32Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > If you beat someone to the point where they lose an eye, is it ever _not_ a hate crime? > [@Zebra](#): > > Do you beat the hell out of people you like? “Hate crime” is a specialized term that means you are motivated by prejudice, not meant to assess the person’s personal relationship with the victim. > [@bobot](#): > > Yes. > [Chicago Rapper Chief Keef Is Jailed for Parole Violation - The New York Times](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/chicago-rapper-is-jailed-for-parole-violation/) > (And by “Yes”, I mean Yes, it’s illegal. Sorry. Reading is hard. That’s a different situation. That particular incident, the person in question was on probation, for pointing a gun at a cop, and violated the terms of the probation agreement. That says nothing about whether or not convicted felons who have completed all terms of probation, parole, etc, are not allowed to hold firearms when working in movies. > [@handsomeharry](#): > > Can’t address your situation, but, I bet most people on this board have had fights in which somebody \*could \*have lost an eye. That’s a ridiculous assertion. Grand total of fights I’ve been in: - a handful of scuffles on the playground in elementary school, did not even constitute punches being exchanged, just wrestling and such; - a couple of similar incidents in junior high; - 17 years in karate doing sport sparring, with safety gear including head gear with face shields At no time have I ever been in a fight that somebody had a reasonable risk to losing an eye. I assess reasonable risk in this case to mean any greater risk than doing any other physical activity, like playing baseball or juggling or having sex. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/56 "2013-02-06T01:52:22Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > All indications are that he has gotten past his previous goon behaviors and has become a good person, but this is one of those things that will haunt him pretty much forever. As it should. I completely [disagree](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638941). He is still a huge entitled prick, only with more money and less motivation to break the law. Just to highlight some of his crimes and general idiocy: 1. Wahlberg had been in trouble 20–25 times with the Boston Police Department in his youth 2. At fifteen, he harassed a group of black school children on a field trip by throwing rocks and shouting racial [epithets](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/back-day-marky-marks-rap-sheet-0). 3. At 16, Wahlberg approached a middle-aged Vietnamese man on the street and, using a large wooden stick, knocked him unconscious (while calling him “Vietnam fucking shit”). He also attacked another Vietnamese man, leaving him permanently blind in one eye. On this incident: Commenting in 2006 on his past crimes, Wahlberg has stated: “I did a lot of things that I regret, and I have certainly paid for my mistakes.” He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt: “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.” 1. In another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack. 2. In an 2010 [interview](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9qYToSFcTR0J:www.tmz.com/2010/12/03/mark-wahlberg-manny-pacquaio-audio-fight-knockout/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a), “he revealed that he “clocked” a guy in a L.A. nightclub recently … and “fish hooked” some guy’s eye socket during a rumble at a Patriots-Jets football game a few years ago.” Bottom line is that if he didn’t have money, he likely would have been arrested a long time ago for a serious crime. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/57 "2013-02-06T12:27:41Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > I completely [disagree](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638941). He is still a huge entitled prick, only with more money and less motivation to break the law. Just to highlight some of his crimes and general idiocy: > > 1. Wahlberg had been in trouble 20–25 times with the Boston Police Department in his youth > > 2. At fifteen, he harassed a group of black school children on a field trip by throwing rocks and shouting racial [epithets](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/back-day-marky-marks-rap-sheet-0). > > 3. At 16, Wahlberg approached a middle-aged Vietnamese man on the street and, using a large wooden stick, knocked him unconscious (while calling him “Vietnam fucking shit”). He also attacked another Vietnamese man, leaving him permanently blind in one eye. > > On this incident: Commenting in 2006 on his past crimes, Wahlberg has stated: “I did a lot of things that I regret, and I have certainly paid for my mistakes.” He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt: “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.” > > 1. In another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack. > > 2. In an 2010 [interview](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9qYToSFcTR0J:www.tmz.com/2010/12/03/mark-wahlberg-manny-pacquaio-audio-fight-knockout/+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a), “he revealed that he “clocked” a guy in a L.A. nightclub recently … and “fish hooked” some guy’s eye socket during a rumble at a Patriots-Jets football game a few years ago.” > > Bottom line is that if he didn’t have money, he likely would have been arrested a long time ago for a serious crime. Given that information, I take back any equivocation I had about judging Wahlberg. He’s still a shitbird. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/58 "2013-02-13T04:08:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > What do you mean Matt Damon is a great guy? He once woke up in a hotel room in Bangkok with a dead hooker and had to call Ben Affleck for help. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe Ben woke up with a dead hooker in his room and called Matt: > > [Ben Affleck and a Dead Hooker? Wha? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247218) Meh. Who _hasn’t_ woken up in a hotel room in Bangkok with a dead hooker? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/59 "2013-02-13T04:11:30Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Meh. Who _hasn’t_ woken up in a hotel room in Bangkok with a dead hooker? She was still breathing when I left. I _swear._ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326/60 "2013-02-13T04:16:03Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > She was still breathing when I left. I _swear._ Then you weren’t doing it right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-learned-that-mark-wahlberg-assaulted-an-asian-person-in-a-hate-crime-as-a-youth/649326.md?page=4)