Gay Youtube star claims he suffered violent hate crime: police say he injured himself

A high-profile gay Youtube personality who claims he suffered a violent “hate crime” actually hurt himself while in jail for vandalism, Los Angeles police are saying. And now they have charged him with filing a false police report over the alleged incident.

According to the LAPD, they responded to YouTuber Calum McSwiggan’s report of being assaulted after leaving a West Hollywood nightclub early Monday and “were unable to substantiate the assault.”

The police subsequently arrested McSwiggan after he allegedly vandalized a car.

The police maintain that he had no visible injuries at the time of his arrest; his booking photo shows no visible injuries, either. After his arrest, he was held alone in a cell. According to the LAPD, McSwiggan was hospitalized after they discovered him using a payphone in the cell to harm himself.

In a June 27 post on Facebook and Instagram accompanied by a photo of him in the hospital with a bandage on his head, McSwiggan wrote:

Then, on June 29, McSwiggan wrote a longer account of the incident on hisFacebook page. He admitted to harming himself in the police holding cell, but maintained that the majority of his injuries came from an attack before he was arrested.

“In a moment of desperation to get out of the cell, I took the pay phone off the wall and hit myself once across the forehead with it as hard as I could,” McSwiggan explained. “I knew I had to injure myself to get out of the cell and into a hospital, and it was the only solution I could find to get myself out of there. This is incredibly out of character for me and is testament to how upset I was in that moment. I do not regret doing this as I could still be in the jail cell if I didn't.”

McSwiggan wrote that the only injury he sustained in the holding cell was a wound to his forehead which required six stitches. His wrote that his three broken teeth and the cuts, scrapes, and bruises on his body were all from the attack.

“Many people are trying to discredit my story but this is the full and entire truth,” McSwiggan wrote. “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 ever be.”

If the LAPD’s assertions are true, this would not be the first hate crime an LGBT activist has faked. 

In May, a progressive pastor who sued Whole Foods Market for allegedly serving him a “homophobic” cake with a gay slur written on it admitted that his claims were completely false. He apologized to the company and dropped his lawsuit. According to Whole Foods Market, the baker who had been accused of the fake hate crime is actually “part of the LGBTQ community.”

In 2013, a lesbian carved a cross into her own chest in order to fake an anti-gay hate crime. Police say she invented the story in order to garner support for the LGBT political agenda. 

Also in 2013, a lesbian waitress claimed that an “anti-gay” family wrote on their receipt, “I'm sorry but I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life.” After the story went viral, the family produced their copy of the receipt and their credit card bill, which showed they paid a 20 percent tip.

In 2012, a man named Joseph Baken claimed to be the victim of an anti-gay hate crime and later pleaded guilty to filing a false police report. He had claimed that three men attacked him for his homosexuality; video then emerged of Baken injuring himself doing a backflip and injuring his face on pavement.

McSwiggan’s YouTube videos cover a variety of raunchy topics related to same-sex relationships, such as genital size, “painless anal sex,” “Gay Sex Confessions,” and “Gay Sex 101: Losing Your Gay Virginity.” 

In another video, McSwiggan explained the pain that participating in gay porn caused him.

“Looking back now, I realize there was absolutely nothing glamorous about it,” he said. “I think the porn industry often preys on the young and naïve. It all seems so thrilling and exciting, and it makes you forget what you’re doing. It tricks you into doing something that you’re gonna later regret.”

He continued, “Knowing that somebody would rather watch you take your clothes off and look at your body than listen to what you have to say, listen to you speak about something that you’re passionate about—that is not an easy pill to swallow.”