Actor and former rapper Mark Wahlberg is seeking a pardon for his juvenile delinquent past, but one of his victims, a now 38-year-old African American woman named Kristyn Arwood of Decatur, Georgia, claims he shouldn’t get a pardon, according to Washington Post .
In 1988, Wahlberg assaulted two Asian boys while trying to steal a case of beer from a convenience store and attacked an African American girl, Arwood, who was in the third grade. She claims he and a group of his white friends threw rocks at her while using racial slurs, Boston reports.
“I don’t really care who he is,” Arwod commented.
“It doesn’t make him any exception. If you’re a racist, you’re always going to be a racist. And for him to want to erase it I just think it’s wrong … It was a hate crime and that’s exactly what should be on his record forever.”
Now more than 25 years have passed and Wahlberg, who is now a Catholic, philanthropist, father of four children, and husband to Rhea Durham, wants a pardon from his past.
Arwood feels that if his taunts left her with a permanent scar, then he should have to deal with his racist past forever.
“I was really scared,” Atwood continued.
“My heart was beating fast. I couldn’t believe it was happening. The names. The rocks. The kids chasing.”
Wahlberg nor his friends were not tried or convicted of the acts, but a judge stated that if their behavior continued, they would have to serve time in a detention center.
Judith Beals, a former Massachusetts assistant attorney, gave her insights on the matter.
“In the 13 years I served in the attorney general’s office, I recall only one instance of a defendant violating a civil rights injunction — Mark Wahlberg. The same tendency toward serial acts of racial violence. Wahlberg has never acknowledged the racial nature of his crimes. Even his pardon petition describes his serial pattern of racist violence as a ‘single episode’ that took place while he was ‘under the influence of alcohol and narcotics.’ For a community that continues to confront racism and hate crime, we need acknowledgment and leadership, not denial.”
Hoah trinh – one of the Asian men that Wahlberg attacked — feels differently than Arwood. He stated as follows.
“I would like to see him get a pardon. He should not have the crime hanging over him any longer. He paid for his crime when he went to prison. I am not saying that it did not hurt when he punched me in the face, but it was a long time ago.”
Wahlberg also released a statement.
“I am deeply sorry for the actions that I took. Since that time, I have dedicated myself to becoming a better person and citizen so that I can be a role model to my children and others.”
[Image via Boston ]
