Openly gay Youtube star who claims he was victim of hate crime is called out by police who say he assaulted HIMSELF
Calum McSwiggan, who has over 23 million Instagram followers alleges he was brutally beaten
AN openly gay Youtube star who claimed he had been a victim of hate crime has been called out by police who say he faked the assault.
Calum McSwiggan, who has 23.3 million Instagram followers, posted a photo of himself bashed up and on a drip – but LA police say the English vlogger caused the injuries himself while in a cell after being arrested.
Los Angeles cops are disputing his claims saying they arrested him on suspicion of vandalism.
McSwiggan, 26, was in the city on holiday with friends – from the Midlands – he has spoken out about his sexuality and also about a series of gay sex videos he made with friends to earn money on the Internet.
He posted online he was beaten by three men in West Hollywood, after enjoying a night out at gay club The Abbey.
He had been in the city attending VidCon - an online video conference.
McSwiggan alleged he was left with three broken teeth and six stitches in his forehead.
He posted: “The authorities should have been there to help and protect me, but instead they treated me like a second-class citizen.”
Accompanied by a picture of him in a hospital bed he said: “I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye.”
However the LA County Sheriff’s Department said that deputies who arrived at the scene in the early hours of Monday morning “were unable to substantiate the assault.”
In a statement they went on to say he was arrested after “deputies observed him vandalizing a car.”
He was booked for vandalism and “had no visible injuries. Mr. McSwiggan’s booking photo was taken prior to deputies seeing Mr. McSwiggan injuring himself.”
They went on to say he then injured himself with a payphone when he was in his jail cell in West Hollywood.
He was then taken to the hospital and released on $20,000 bail.
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A friend of McSwiggan’s Melanie Murphy, put up a lengthy post on Facebook about the incident saying: “He used a phone on the wall to knock himself out - the police were speaking to his parents on the phone about the bail money and Cal didn’t want his parents to have to pay it.
“He knew harming himself would get him moved to a hospital and able to speak to a medical professional/counsellor.
“Calum woke to find himself being lifted away and into an ambulance…apparently the hospital staff told Cal’s parents on the phone that it was the best thing he could have done.”
On Tuesday McSwiggan tweeted: “I’ve been told to say nothing before court tomorrow, but staying silent here is killing us. If you’re a friend, just DM me for the truth.”