Couple was swatted 55 times in 2 years over a post about Norm Macdonald

The city has paid over half a million dollars, yet police policy has not changed and no officers have been disciplined.

A Milwaukee couple, Patrick Tomlinson and Niki Robinson, has been awarded a $575,000 settlement from the City of Milwaukee following 55 instances of "swatting" over two years. Swatting is a harassment tactic where hoax calls report serious crimes, prompting armed police responses. The couple experienced this extreme ordeal, starting in July 2022, despite repeated communication with the Milwaukee Police Department about the false reports. The swatting incidents were reportedly linked to a seven-year-old social media post Tomlinson made about comedian Norm Macdonald. Legal documents and bodycam footage revealed that police were aware of the ongoing swatting at the couple's home, with internal memos indicating a request to mark the house as a "swatter house" was denied due to potential officer complacency. A judge found that police officers violated the couple's constitutional rights by entering and searching their home without permission or warrants, though the officers were granted qualified immunity.

The settlement highlights a critical failure in the Milwaukee Police Department's response to targeted harassment and the inadequate protection of citizens' constitutional rights. Despite clear evidence of ongoing swatting and even internal acknowledgment of the recurring false reports, the department resisted implementing specific protocols, such as marking the "swatter house." The legal outcome, while providing financial compensation to the victims, underscores the challenges posed by qualified immunity in holding individual officers accountable for rights violations, even when their actions are documented as improper.

This case serves as a stark warning about the vulnerabilities created by online harassment that escalates to real-world threats and the complex legal and departmental barriers to effective recourse. It reveals how existing policies and legal doctrines can leave victims of extreme harassment exposed and without meaningful justice, even when their ordeal is extensively documented and admitted by the responding authorities. The lack of disciplinary action and policy change following such a significant settlement suggests a systemic issue in addressing swatting and similar malicious online-enabled attacks.