The Wisconsin Man Who’s Been Swatted Six Times for Saying Norm Macdonald Isn’t Funny
Patrick Tomlinson was just doing what many comedy fans do -- expressing an online opinion about what he finds funny. And he’s been paying for it ever since.
His 2018 tweet about comedian Norm Macdonald seems pretty tame, especially by Twitter standards:
Hot take, I've never thought Norm MacDonald was funny and was pretty sure all my comedy friends who did were either nuts or screwing with me.
When the tweet somehow went viral in 2020, things got ugly fast for the Wisconsin-based science fiction writer. First came the online death threats. Then came the swatting incidents at his Milwaukee home.
What is “swatting?" That’s calling in a fake, serious emergency to law enforcement and sending alarmed cops to the victim’s house. In the first incident, the hoaxers claimed children were in danger at Tomlinson’s home. On another occasion, he told WISN 12, someone called the police posing as Tomlinson confessing to murdering his wife with an AR-15. "Used my name. Used this address. Said that I had just killed my wife and, come get me. And they did."
“It's a way to try and trick the police into being your executioners,” Tomlinson told The Daily Mail, frustrated that authorities are still arriving at his home after six such incidents since March 2020. “You don't have to keep doing the bidding of the people whose stated goal is to kill us.”
One irony here is Norm Macdonald’s comedy wasn’t for everybody by design. On celebrity roasts, he’d tell rambling stories from corny, decades-old joke books. You got it or you didn’t. As many of his comedian friends shared after his death, Norm found it hilarious when he bombed -- people not finding him funny was the joke.
Was Norm even aware of Tomlinson? Yep, if only because some fan paid him to record this Cameo:
Clearly joking, Norm protests, “I am funny! Please keep insulting that fat loser.” But there’s no doubt that Macdonald was completely unaware of the extent of the Tomlinson mess. Was the shared Cameo video unwittingly egging on trolls? “I will do thy bidding, King,” reads one YouTube comment. “RIP Norm. We got it from here,” reads another.
When does it end? The latest incident was just last week.
Tomlinson has tried to get the courts to unveil the identity of his tormenters, but a judge ruled that “John Doe,” the owner of an online forum where much of the harassment originates, could remain anonymous. And Tomlinson was ordered to pay John Doe’s legal fees.
(UPDATE: Since publication, Cracked has been contacted by multiple sources claiming that Tomlinson's online conflicts and provocative behavior on social media began well before his 2018 Norm Macdonald tweet. The story is still developing.)
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Top image: Team Coco
