Calum McSwiggan, 26, a YouTuber (because apparently that’s an occupation these days), threw up a picture of himself on Instagram claiming that he was attacked outside a gay bar in West Hollywood Monday. Well, looks like Calum here might be a good old fashioned liar, because the police are telling another story.
In a statement to The Advocate, Holly M. Perez, captain of the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said:
“Authorities responded to McSwiggan’s report that he was assaulted by three men outside of a gay club. Officers “were unable to substantiate the assault,” Perez said. The YouTuber “had no visible injuries” and was arrested when officers went to the scene “after deputies observed him vandalizing a car.” The 26-year-old was booked and photographed and placed in a cell by himself at the West Hollywood Station. It was there that station personnel say McSwiggan “was then observed injuring himself with the handle and receiver to a payphone inside the cell.”
Ut oh. And it gets worse. McSwiggan claimed to have three broken teeth and six stitches in his forehead, and he shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed with a bandage on his forehead. Riyadh Khalif, a friend of McSwiggan, tweeted that he was McSwiggan at the bar that night, but the attack came during a moment that McSwiggan was separated from his friends. Yeah, surrrrreeeee it did, dog.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHLkIAfD9vq/
The caption reads:
“Last night was the worst night of my life and I’m really struggling to find the words to talk about it. After one of the most wonderful weekends at VidCon we went out to a gay club to celebrate, and towards the end of the evening I was separated from my friends and beaten up by three guys. The authorities should have been there to help and protect me but instead they treated me like a second class citizen. With three broken teeth and six stitches in my forehead, I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye. All I can do is thank my wonderful friends@riyadhk, @melaniiemurphy and @douga_ for being with me the whole way. I’d be lost without them. Right now I don’t feel that I’m in the right place to talk about this but I will be addressing this fully in the future.”
However, the LA County Sheriff’s Department, who had to waste time and resources on this attention seeker, said:
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has an affirmative duty to fully investigate all assaults and reports of violence in our community. Deputies from West Hollywood Station responded to and investigated the report by Calum McSwiggan that he was assaulted by three males after leaving a local nightclub early Monday morning. Responding deputies were unable to substantiate the assault. Mr. McSwiggan, who had no visible injuries, was subsequently arrested after deputies observed him vandalizing a car in the 8900 block of Santa Monica Boulevard. After being booked and photographed, Mr. McSwiggan was placed into a cell by himself at West Hollywood Station. Mr. McSwiggan was then observed injuring himself with the handle and receiver to a payphone inside the cell. Medical personnel were summoned and Mr. McSwiggan was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Mr. McSwiggan’s booking photo was taken prior to deputies seeing Mr. McSwiggan injuring himself. That booking photo is attached.
