Something happened to him. He has bruises; and hospital records will document his injuries. If it was faked, he would have had to have planned the attack with a confederate, which means he should have the details down. What is consistent with the facts is that it was an road rage incident, and that he embroidered it; or that it was a road rage incident, and during the attack one of the yobs recognized him and said something.
That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it :-)
It may turn out that he was beaten up. It could even turn out that he was beaten up for reasons having nothing to do with his childish behavior on the ID issue. Or maybe he fell down the stairs at home and decided to create a good Politically Correct story out of his bruises.
I don't have enough facts to make a judgment. If he was beaten for his opinions he didn't deserve it. But he doesn't seem to be a guy who's playing with a full deck, if you ask me.
I give it another 24 hours before the story falls apart for good.