Facebook

YouTube Star Pleads Not Guilty to Filing False Police Report After Alleged Attack in WeHo

"I did not fake this attack and am absolutely appalled that anyone would suggest or think that I did," he tweeted

A YouTube personality and LGBT activist who says he was attacked after leaving a gay bar in West Hollywood has been charged with making a false police report and faking his injuries.

Calum McSwiggan, 26, of London, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of falsely reporting to a peace officer that a felony was committed, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

"I did not fake this attack and am absolutely appalled that anyone would suggest or think that I did," he wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

McSwiggan reported to deputies on Monday that three men had beaten him. Deputies said they could not substantiate his claims and took him into custody after seeing him vandalize a car. He was seen hitting himself with a jail payphone after his arrest, according to the sheriff's department.

He posted a longer explanation on his Facebook page in which he wrote that he left The Abbey with a man he "took a liking to," walked for about five minutes and blacked out after being punched in the mouth and kicked in the body.

"I have spent my whole adult life campaigning for LGBT+ equality and did not take this attack lightly," McSwiggan wrote in his Facebook posting. "I cannot say for 100 percent that this was because I was gay but I can't think of any other justification for this random attack.

"In a moment of devastation, anger and blind rage I kicked the wing mirror of the attacker's car until it broke and then ripped it off with my hands. I also scratched the front of the car with the broken wing mirror before returning back to The Abbey for help."

McSwiggan said deputies didn't believe he had been attacked and took him to the station, where he hit himself once with a payphone across the forehead in a holding cell so he could be taken to a hospital.

He posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram. 

McSwiggan said he needed six stitches for his self-inflicted head injury, and had suffered three broken teeth, a cut, bruises and scrapes in the alleged attack in West Hollywood.

"I'm heartbroken about the events and these have been the worst few days of my life," he wrote on Facebook. "Many people are trying to discredit my story but this is the full and entire truth. Just because there were no visible marks on my face does not mean I was not attacked. Being accused of being a liar and being called a disgrace to the LGBT+ community, a community I've dedicated my life to, is more painful than any hate crime could be."

He could face up to 364 days in county jail if convicted of the charge, according to the district attorney's office. He is due back in court July 19.

City News Service and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
Contact Us