This couple was swatted 55 times in 2 years over a post about Norm Madconald | CBC Radio

Patrick Tomlinson, a science fiction writer and comedian, and his partner, Niki Robinson, have reached a $575,000 U.S. settlement with Milwaukee. Their lawsuit concerned repeated hoax emergency calls that brought armed police to their home.

Tomlinson said the first police response came while he was asleep. He traced the harassment to a social media post about Canadian comedian Norm Macdonald, followed by years of online abuse that he says escalated into swatting.

Court evidence included police emails and internal memos indicating officers knew the home was being targeted. An agreed statement of facts says officers entered without permission once and searched the couple’s home without a warrant on several occasions.

The settlement resolves the couple’s claim that their constitutional rights were violated. Tomlinson said the city had not changed its policy and no officers had been disciplined. Milwaukee police referred CBC to city attorney Evan Goyke, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment.