This Wednesday, June 29, 2016, photo released by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows Calum McSwiggan. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department via AP)
A YouTube star who claimed he was assaulted outside a West Hollywood club was charged Wednesday with filing a false police report and faking his injuries.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said Calum McSwiggan, of London, was seen hitting himself with a jail payphone after his arrest Monday. McSwiggan said he was assaulted by three men outside a gay club, but deputies said they couldn’t substantiate his claims and took him into custody after seeing him vandalize a car.
McSwiggan, 26, wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday that he was attacked by three men who broke his teeth. He included a picture of him in a hospital bed.
“The authorities should have been there to help and protect me but instead they treated me like a second class citizen,” McSwiggan wrote in his post. “I’ve never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye.”
He was released from jail Monday after posting $20,000 bail.
Sheriff's officials released his mug shot, which was taken before he hit himself with the phone. No injuries were visible.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, McSwiggan acknowledged he hit himself in the head with a jail phone, but reiterated he was attacked outside the gay club.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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