Mari Poindexter admitted to faking an assault to make headlines and raise awareness about hardships faced by the LGBT community.

Last August, Mari Poindexter, a professor at Central Michigan University reported on social media that she was violently assaulted by a man at a local concert she attended with her family.

She posted a detailed account of the alleged assault which included a man shouting “crossdressing fag” at her, before attacking her in a carpark of a local bar later that night. Along with the post, she included graphic pictures of her injuries.

Poindexter’s supporters urged her to report the attack to police. When she did, the police investigated CCTV footage of the carpark, prompting the alleged victim to confess that she had lied about the attack, but maintains that she was still verbally abused by a man at the concert.

Police said that Poindexter, “made the story up about being assaulted by a male subject at the bar and punched herself in the eye because she wanted to raise awareness about the social hardships of people in the LGBT community.”

Her lawyer told Morning Sun News, “On the night in question, she was accosted, by another patron at a local concert. The assault included many homophobic remarks, [and was] very mean spirited” but “made the mistake of exaggerating the assault.”

Poindexter was sentenced to a fine of $225 and six months of probation.