The San Diego attack left the victim with injuries to his spine, nose, and eye socket.
Taylor Knight admitted to leading an attack that saw the teen doused with boiling water and pelted with cigarettes.
A Madrid man changed his story on Wednesday. However, protests organized due to the original alleged attack went on as planned.
Last year saw the highest number of overall hate crimes in the United States since 2008, according to the FBI's data.
The attack left the couple soaked in blood with cuts on their bodies.
The teens attacked the men in the small English town of Bishop’s Stortford.
The suspect in the incident punched two young men calling them homophobic slurs and punched a woman who tried to intervene.
