LGBT Activist Calum McSwiggan Pleads Not Guilty for Allegedly Faking Attack in West Hollywood

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - A YouTube personality and LGBT activist who says he was attacked by three men after leaving a gay bar in West Hollywood pleaded not guilty Monday to a criminal charge of making a false police report.

Calum McSwiggan, 26, of London, was charged on 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.

McSwiggan is accused of falsely reporting to police that he had been beaten by three men on June 27, resulting in various injuries.

McSwiggan denied faking the attack on Twitter. "To reiterate, I did not fake this attack and am absolutely appalled that anyone would suggest or think that I did," he wrote on the social media platform.

He posted a longer explanation on his Facebook page in which he wrote that he left The Abbey with a guy he "took a liking to," walked no more than five minutes away 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," he wrote in his Facebook posting. "I cannot say for 100% 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 police apparently didn't believe that he had been attacked and took him to a police station, where he hit himself once with a pay phone across the forehead in a holding cell so he could be taken to a hospital.

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. "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."

McSwiggan could face up to 364 days in county jail if convicted of the charge, according to the District Attorney's Office.

— City News Service contributed to this report, booking photo courtesy of the LASD